Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) has announced an expansive project to redevelop and refurbish the Foster + Partners designed 8 Canada Square building, also known as HSBC Tower, in Canary Wharf, London. Following an international competition, the remodeling plans include removing large parts of the 42-story building to introduce terraces and additional functions. According to Canary Wharf Group and the Qatar Investment Authority, this represents the largest transformation of an office tower into a sustainable mixed-use building. The project is set to begin in 2027, after the expiry of the HSBC lease.
The building, originally designed by Foster + Partners, was completed in 2002 and has served as the headquarters of HSBC since then. The refurbishment aims to improve the sustainability of the single-use office building to introduce additional functions. By carving out terraces out of the volume, the available floor area will be reduced, while offering a larger variety of spaces for future users.
Once completed, the 11 million square feet building will accommodate workspaces, and spaces for leisure, entertainment, education, and cultural attractions. A new publicly accessible route between Elizabeth Line station and Canada Square Park will improve urban connectivity, while the redevelopment aims to increase the number of visitors interested in the Canary Wharf, a number which already reached over 67 million people during 2023.
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How to Improve Energy Efficiency in Modernist Buildings?This transformation embodies the ethos behind much of our work, we see it as an integral part of the evolution of today’s single-use neighborhoods into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods of tomorrow – an evolution of which CWG is already leading the way. - Elie Gamburg, Design Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
KPF has been involved in several skyscraper retrofit projects, including the Tour First in Paris’ La Défense, the tallest building in Paris and the tallest office building in France, and the Panorama St Paul’s in London. The internationally recognized office has also recently completed the Atlantis The Royal Resort in Dubai and has received planning permission for “Tower 36,” an office skyscraper in Miami, Florida.
