Amanda Levete architects

388 Hills Place . London

photos: courtesy of  Amanda Levete architects .  Edmund Sumner . Gidon Fuehrer 

Client:                                            Clarendon Properties
Programme Offices:                     addition of 3 floors above existing 2
                                                      storey brick retail building, and a new façade.
Area:                                             14,220 sq ft
Contract Value:                             NA
Status:                                          On site February 2007; Completion September 
                                                      2009
AL_A Team:                                  Amanda Levete, Ho-Yin Ng - Project Director,
                                                     Gidon Fuehrer, Chris Geneste, Soren Aagaard,
                                                     Alan Dempsey, John O'Mara, Michael Mitchell
Contractors:
Main Contractor:                           Powells Group
Facade:                                        Frener & Reifer
Specialist Interiors:                       Windsor Workshop Ltd.                    

Consultants:
Project Manager:                          MGPM
Structural Engineers:                    Akera Engineers
Service Engineers:                       BARN Partnership                            
Acoustic Engineers:                      Acoustic Design Consultants

Muchas calles secundarias y callejones en el entorno de Oxford Street,
Many narrow streets and alleyways off Oxford Street, London are currently 
Londres están desaprovechadas. Estas áreas poco valoradas son ideales,
misused and underdeveloped. These under regarded areas are ideal not only
no sólo para ser sometidas a procesos de mejora sino para desarrollar
for improvement, but also for relatively unconventional design opportunities. 
estrategias de diseño nada convencionales. Nuestra propuesta explota esto
Our proposal acknowledges this by providing an architectural intervention   
apostando por una arquitectura que sutilmente atraiga la atención hacia el
that subtly draws attention to the building through the intrigue of a sculptural
 edificio mediante la seducción de una fachada con pretensiones escultóricas.
façade. Inspired by the art work of Lucio Fontana large glazed areas orientated 
Inspirados por Lucio Fontana, grandes áreas vidriadas orientadas al cielo se
towards the sky are slashed into the façade, maximising the natural 
 cortan en la fachada, aprovechando para conseguir la máxima iluminación
light available in this narrow street. 
en una calle tan estrecha.

© Edmund Sumner

© Gidon Fuehrer

archdaily

This sculptural form is achieved using a system of aluminium profiles used in the production of high quality, ship hulls. The facade is fabricated using curved 140mm wide aluminium profiles that are connected together on-site, using a tongue-and-groove system ensuring water-tightness and construction efficiency. The metallic silver finish is a high performance durable paint typically used on super yachts. The use of self cleaning glass and an ingenious detail of hidden gutters within the eyelids ensures the facade remains low maintenance.

The ground floor is fronted by a bespoke laminated glass in which is sandwiched a
stainless steel mesh and semi opaque interlayer over a dichromatic film. This is lit from behind, using fibre optics to generate a coloured moiré pattern providing dynamic visual interest and a feeling of depth to what would otherwise be a blank wall.