55 Victoria Street was a speculatively built office building from the 1980’s. By 2012, it was tired and dated however the generous floor to ceiling heights offered other opportunities.
Project Name: 55 Victoria Street
Studio Name: Stiff + Trevillion
Location: London, United Kingdom
Photography: Andy Stagg
Project size: 6171 m2
Completion date: 2015
Planning was granted in April 2013 to create 57 apartments with retail uses at ground floor, retaining the Bank on the corner of Strutton Ground and the creation of two south facing communal gardens at ground and eighth floors.
The existing building was stripped back to the frame and extended to form a striking volumetric composition with a prominent twelve storey vertical element on the North West corner. The structural solution needed to be ingenious; adding six floors to an existing six-storey building without new foundations meant that the new structure needed to be paired back to a minimum in order to reduce the additional loading.
The building was re-clad in Petersen facing brickwork. Two types of brick were used with a combination of raked and flush pointed lime mortar. The base of the building is enlivened by the random insertion of a range of dark coloured glazed bricks, which add depth to the plinth.
The distinctive grey colour mediates between the commercial steel and glass opposite and the gentle yellow grey brick of the Peabody Trust housing behind. The use of carefully detailed brickwork has added texture and richness. Bronze-finish windows, balustrades and balconies complement the brickwork.
A double height entrance lobby is seen an extension of the architecture of the scheme, clad in the same brick and glazed brick. The brickwork frame has been brought into the interior to express the structural and material quality of the new façade.
This new scheme has delivered a low energy sustainable design re-using the existing structure and foundations, providing combined heat and power, whole house ventilation and a high performance building envelope.
