Palestra
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The Palestra House stands opposite MacCormac's Southwark station and forms an effective end-stop to The Cut
Neil Bridge Download Original
Office building with retail and restaurant space at ground level; the unusual shape is supported by a steel frame with concrete slabs on metal decking
The office comprises flexible floor plates, which can be used in open plan or cellular formats. They are arranged in two distinct planes, separated by an open level of ‘social space’. At the west end of the building the upper box is offset from the lower, and assumes a three-storey-deep 7.5m cantilever over Blackfriar's Road.
At street level, the building is open with the floors above supported by composite columns. The columns are constructed using two reinforcing tubes filled with concrete and have been designed to meet European construction codes.
The facade makes use of advanced glazing technology, and incorporates an abstract pattern that is impermeably bonded into the individual glass sheets. The use of strong form and vivid colour is mirrored in the interior, artwork by Kate Dineen, sloping surfaces and ceiling concaves are all features of the interior design.
Data
- Begun: Nov 2003
- Completed: Jan 2006
- Floor area: 37,400m2
- Sector: Office
- Total cost: £140M
- Tender date: Sep 2003
- Procurement: JCT with Contractor's Design incorporating Amendments 1, 2 and 3 and special client amendments
- Address: Palestra House, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: SMC Alsop
- Project architect: Will Alsop
- Client: Blackfriars Investment Ltd (BIL), Royal London Asset Management
- Structural, geotechnical, facade engineering: Fulcrum Consulting/ WW
- Quantity surveyor: Faithful
- Main contractor: Skanska Construction UK
- Planning consultant: Montagu Evans
- Wind Consultant: MBT
- Demolition Contractor: Keltbray
- Detailed lighting contractor: Pinniger
- Concept Lighting consultant: Janet Turner
- Acoustic consultant: Cole Jarman Assocites
- M&E consultant: Bruro Happold
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