Located in the heart of Westminster, a short distance away from the Buckingham Palace, Henning Larsen are building a community hub that reimagines traditional office and commercial spaces. 105 Victoria Street will be the architecture firm's first ever project in London, providing visitors with an urban plaza that enables an active and social working environment both indoors and outdoors. The project is being developed by BentallGreenOak and is designed in collaboration with Adamson Associates Architects and KPF.
The 470,000 sq. ft. building is a mixed-use office building that aims to become an active urban hub with recreational and leisure spaces. Instead of a typical reception area at the ground floor, the architecture firm integrated the Village Square, a covered public plaza that transitions visitors from outside to inside. The ground floor's open plan and flexibility provides a wide public space for events and exhibitions, as well as a vibrant market hall that houses retail stores and coffee shops.
In addition to commercial and recreational spaces, health and wellness were also key factors throughout the building's design process. The Village Square is connected to the underground bicycle parking and workshop, gym, and multi-purpose hall, through a winding staircase and bicycle ramp. The ramp and staircase are wrapped around a small element of indoor greenery. Towards the 10th floor, a looped indoor and outdoor track connects the amenities with landscaped terraces that overlook London's skyline.
Sometimes the smallest things can have the biggest impact. When designing Victoria Street, we thought not just about our goals for a sustainable and active office building, but what stops people from making those healthy choices now. By focusing on solving those problems, we are giving agency to the tenants and community around the building. -- Jacob Kurek, Partner-In-Charge
The project is designed to meet BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ standards and reach net zero embodied carbon by 2026, putting environmental and human wellness at the forefront. The design team used microclimate, wind, and acoustic analyses to create a comfortable and healthy environment for both the employees and visitors. Construction of 105 Victoria Street is expected to begin in August 2022.
Henning Larsen have recently broken ground on their New School in Sundby, a historic project for the country's sustainable educational-facility architecture. The primary school is set to be the largest construction project in Guldborgsund Municipality that ensures high sustainability parameters and community engagement, expected to open its doors at the end of summer 2022. The firm has also won a competition to design Højvangen Church, the first to be built in Skanderborg Parish in over 500 years.
