New landmark in London.

Architecture taking into account the surrounding buildings

The sensitive location on the north bank of the Thames required not only the consideration of the surrounding buildings, but above all the inclusion of public space. The exterior design restores visual axes and visual relationships – including to St. Paul’s Cathedral – and facilitates access to the river. At the same time, the architects have ensured that the technical systems on the roof cannot be seen from the balcony of the nearby tourist attraction “The Monument”.

Dynamic outer shell based on the shape of the plot

The trapezoidal floor plan of the glass cube develops from the shape of the property between the street and the Thames. On 29,000 square meters, the ten-storey, 46-meter-high building offers flexible and open office space arranged around a central core. The shorter sides of the building in the south and north are dynamically related to the longer ones. Trapezoidal balconies reinforce this dynamic and at the same time break up the block-like view of the cube. The recessed cuboid of the top two floors visually reduces the height and mass of the building.

Crystalline appearance

The crystalline appearance of Riverbank House is mainly due to the glass-aluminium façade construction with its balconies. Both were realized by the company Josef Gärtner GmbH from Gundelfingen. The 8,500 square metre, rear-ventilated double façade is equipped with movable sun protection systems in the space between the panes, thus creating a pleasant atmosphere inside.

High comfort with maximum safety

The individual elements of the double façade are usually 4.5 m x 3.85 m in size and each equipped with three floor-to-ceiling maintenance sashes measuring 1.5 m x 2.75 m. GEWE-therm® heat-insulating glass from SCHOLLGLAS was used for the opening sashes and the inner insulating glass panes. The outer impact pane of the double façade was designed with GEWE-safe® laminated safety glass. This combination supports the high level of user comfort all year round and at the same time meets the high safety requirements.

Undersides of the balconies form strong colour accents

On the room side, the façade profiles are in natural tone, on the outside black anodized. In contrast, the sunny yellow soffits of the cantilevered balconies set a strong colour accent. Their overhead cladding should appear as a homogeneous surface, but must also be particularly stable and ensure a high residual load-bearing capacity in the event of glass breakage. For this reason, GEWE-safe® laminated safety glass was used here as a structural glazing construction. Smoothly joined together, without visible fasteners, the coloured surface reflects the water of the Thames up to the upper floors on the river-side balconies in good weather. The strong yellow is protected from the weather as an all-over enamelling on position 2 of the pane. This means that the vivid colour brilliance is retained for a long time.

Glass elements as a filigree solution for balcony balustrades

The fantastic view is also not disturbed by massive balcony balustrades. Safety glass from SCHOLLGLAS was also used for the all-glass elements, which were only clamped at the bottom, so that users and visitors of Riverbank House can always safely enjoy the view of the Thames and the skyline opposite.

In a sensitive location in the City of London, the Riverbank House fits in successfully thanks to its clear façade design and the harmonious interplay of materiality and colour.