The London Ark
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View of the Ark from the Hammersmith flyover
Rupert Truman Download Original
Office building on a cramped site hemmed in by a concrete overpass on one side and a railway cutting on another
The Ark, so called in reference to its hull-like profile, was designed by architect Ralph Erskine, originally designed for Swedish developers Ake Larson and Pronator.
The mass of the building is arranged around a central atrium and rejects an orthogonal grid in both plan and section. Design innovations include water used for cooling rather than air employing Scandinavian radiant panels in the ceilings.
The original building was refitted in 1996 by DN-A architects, stripping out the central “village” and connecting walkways which spanned the atrium and the floorplates.
A new double height atrium was created on the ground floor, and a new fifth and sixth floor were erected, while the seventh floor was extended as an open mezzanine. As a result net lettable floor space was increased by 30%, from 12,100m2 to 15,600m2. Each floor can be subdivided into two spaces and the open balustrading has been replaced with partially glazed partitions.
Data
- Begun: Sep 1989
- Completed: Apr 1992
- Floor area: 17,000m2
- Sector: Office
- Total cost: £34M
- Procurement: Ake Larson standard conditions of contract
- Address: 201 Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 9, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Ralph Erskine
- Project architects: Lennart Bergström, Ralph Erskine, Rock Townsend
- Client: Talgarth Estates BV
- Structural engineer: Scandiaconsult AB
- Structural engineer: Andrew Kent
- Main contractor: Ake Larson
Suppliers
- Acoustic consultant: Scandiaconsult AB, Arup Acoustics
- Floor slabs: Bison
- Cladding: Hallmo
