Central St. Giles Mixed-use Development, London

About

Colloquially known as The Rookery, London’s St. Giles district was for centuries one of the poorest neighborhoods in central London. The construction in the 1950s of a large government complex was meant to bring positive change, but the opposite happened because the type chosen and the dark, massive, and monotonous architecture turned the place into a new source of crime. In the early 2000s, St. Giles was included in the list of priority development areas, and a private developer bought St. Giles Court to promote the construction of a mixed-use complex with housing, offices, shops, and restaurants. With an area of over 60,000 square meters – doubling that of the old ensemble – the complex includes two buildings. The first one, residential, is fifteen-stories tall and faces west, while the second is eleven stories tall, faces east, and contains offices, wrapped around a large courtyard that is accessible from the exterior, and that constitutes the symbolic and functional heart of the piece, reflecting its role as a regenerating element in the urban space. Central St. Giles scored an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating for sustainability.

Sources

• Arquitectura Viva
• Arquitectura Viva