5 Aldermanbury Square
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
5 Aldermanbury Square
Hélène Binet (website) Download Original
18-storey stainless steel clad office building in Central London, creating a series of new urban spaces and public routes
Eric Parry Architects’ office building at 5 Aldermanbury Square squeezes into a difficult urban site, bordered on the east by the square, by Wood Street to the west and by Terry Farrell’s Alban Gate building to the north.
At ground floor level, double height colonnades form a covered link between Wood Street and the square, acting as a pleasant courtyard attached to a retail unit. Sculpted stone benches and two large water features enliven the public space. The building’s main reception flanks this courtyard and is lined by a woven textile wall through the full width of the building.
Externally, the double height ordering of the façade, expressed in stainless steel paneling, recalls the classical architecture of George Dance’s terraced housing that formerly edged the square. It also has the effect of diminishing the apparent height of the building when observed from neighboring streets.
Data
- Begun: May 2004
- Completed: Oct 2007
- Floor area: 35m2
- Sector: Office
- Total cost: £72M
- Funding: Private
- Procurement: Design & Build
- CO2 Emissions: 91.33kg/m2/year
- Address: 5 Aldermanbury Square, City of London, EC2V 7HR, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Eric Parry Architects
- Project architect: Eric Parry
- Client: Scottish Widows Plc
- Structural engineer: Ramboll Whitbybird Engineers
- Main contractor: Bovis
- Quantity surveyor: Northcroft
- Services engineer: Hilson Moran Partnership
