Dundee House

The existing building, classical with rows of tripartite windows and tall arches, is transformed into a ‘civic loggia’. The seven-storey extension projects backwards from the original structure into an array of three open plan office spurs.

The plan-form of the building exploits the linear layout with a cruciform circulation plan at ground-floor level and a pedestrian route zigzagging across from the loggia. Most of this is left open as a two-storey civic space with two additional floors of offices and a glazed, meeting room floor above.

A web of corridors, light wells and glimpsed views dissolve gradually as one ascends through the building. The building uses a limited palette of enduring materials: oak, brick, stone, glass, concrete. Rough brick of the retained building dominates the interior spaces.

The rear external brick wall extends over the entire building. On the east side, a set-back, gold-tinted glazed attic block manages the transition from low front to high back. To the west, the strong forms of the three splayed office towers are faced with a gridded pattern of light pink Danish brick piers and precast concrete slabs.