OMA + allies and morrison: new court rothschild's london headquarters

‘new court – rothschild’s headquarters’ by OMA + allies and morrison architects, london, UK image © OMA by philippe ruault all images courtesy of OMA

positioned along st. swithin’s lane and adjacent to christopher wren’s st. stephen walbrook church, the ‘new court’ is british bank, rothchild’s london headquarters by rotterdam-based OMA and london-based allies and morrison architects. following the maggie’s gartnavel centre in glasgow, the tower represents the second building constructed within the UK by dutch practice OMA, and both are nominated for the 2012 RIBA stirling prize. the structure’s form minimizes competition with its two historically prominent neighbors, establishing an urban connection through a series of stacked cubic volumes. at the street, the mass is lifted to allow pedestrian access through a glass lobby. the transparent enclosure reveals the medieval roads which border the base, visually connecting to the 400-year old church on the opposing side of the site. structural steel and dark glazing define the external aesthetic.

a central cube contains ten stories of open plan offices which overlook the urban fabric. four attached annexes contain meeting rooms, reception, vertical circulation, a cafe and gym. on top of the primary element at a heights of 75 meters, a double level sky pavilion formed with pilotis offers space for company functions and meetings with a backdrop of views towards the encompassing the financial district. a landscaped roof garden may host larger events.

st stephen walkbrook church with west facade of rothschild bank image © OMA

rothschild bank from king street image © OMA by charlie koolhaas

car access alongside st swithin’s lane image © OMA by philippe ruault

level 10 meeting room image © OMA by charlie koolhaas

meeting room with family heritage image © OMA by philippe ruault

rooftop view on london framed by sky pavilion image © OMA by philippe ruault

rooftop view image © OMA by philippe ruault

(left) level 7-10 (right) car access images © OMA by philippe ruault

reception area with curtain image © OMA by philippe ruault

forecourt and st stephen walbrook at night image © OMA by philippe ruault

project info:

project: rothschild’s london headquarters status: competition 2005, completed november 2011 client: rothschild location: st swithin’s lane, city of london site: new court, enclosed in cluster of buildings, adjacent to the 17th century st. stephen walbrook church; with main entrance on the narrow st. swithin’s lane program: office headquarters: 21,000m2 (gfa)

OMA partners-in-charge: rem koolhaas, ellen van loon project managers: carol patterson, adrianne fisher, adekunle adeyemi team: elisa simonetti, haiko cornelissen, isabel da silva, keigo kobayashi, jarek kubik, anna little, jason long, matthew murphy, michel van de kar with: joão amaro, clement blanchet, tiago branco, matt brown, mark dahmen, claire destrebecq, tomas dirrix, anita ernodi, nicolas firket, martin gallovsky, jonah gamblin, farshid gazor, achim gergen, gustavo guimarães, pascal lestringant, per linde, christoph michael, susana mondejar, katharina nerhe, gianna ong-alok, daan ooievaar, gustavo paternina, marc paulin, manuel pelicano moreira, dirk peters, anna pribylova, marta rodríguez fernández, nina sahebkar, jad semaan, saskia simon, daliana suryawinata, christin svensson, anna tjumina, katrien van dijk, rodrigo vilas boas, pero vukovic, leoni wenz, shuchen xiang, nurdan yakup, junjie yan, lucia zamponi.

allies and morrison architects team: andrew dean (lead architect), billy choi, mark foster, robert maxwell (project partner) with: joel davenport, juliet harris, sophie lian jie, andrew mcmullan, christine peters, james petty, mariana rodrigues, stefen schoenefuss, lenny sequeira, frances taylor, mark taylor, alex wraight. fit-out architect typical office floors: pringle brandon partner-in-charge: jack pringle with: charles vine, fiona ballance, linzi cassels, jane clay, marianna dietrich, mijail gutierrez, david halpenny, inaki isla

development advisor: stanhope engineer: arup cost consultant: davis langdon construction manager: lend lease planning consultant: dp9 lighting: arup, gia equation access: david bonnett associates archaeology: molas landscape: inside outside with aura melis & jana crepon, charles funke associates façade engineering: front and arup acoustics: dhv/ arup AV consultant: mark johnson consultants IT consultant: pts catering consultant: tricon food services security consultant: qcic group commissioning manager: core group storage consultant: wzn consulting signage consultant: irma boom property consultant: knight frank newmark reception curtain: inside outside: petra blaisse with peter niessen, miki satoh & francesca sartori townscape adviser: peter stewart consultancy