ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. 5 Hanover Square in London, UK by Squire and PartnersNovember 26th, 2016 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Squire and Partners Squire and Partners won an invited competition in 2006 to design a new mixed-use building for a prestigious corner site in Mayfair which addresses both Hanover Square and Hanover Street. Launched in April 2012, the completed building marks the first UK venture for Mitsui Fudosan, Japan’s leading property company, working with development managers Stanhope. The clients sought to provide a high quality exemplar sustainable building providing 91,000 sq ft of office, residential and gallery space.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners
 Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners When exploring the context of Hanover Square, the practice found a varied mix of architecture with no dominant style. Squire and Partners’ design became primarily concerned with the need to address the prominent corner location, and create façades which would form a dialogue with existing buildings around the square, particularly the handsome black brick Georgian building at 20 Hanover Square, which faces the building from across the garden.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners The building has been designed as a contemporary response to the traditional tripartite system in scale and proportion, relating to the context of Hanover Square. Strongly modelled facades constructed from richly textured handmade grey/black brick laid in Flemish bond are punctuated by deep window reveals lined with white precast concrete mixed with reflective mica, and offset with vertical gold fins.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners The top floor is designed as a mansard clad in matt black photovoltaic panels, one of the first projects in London to use photovoltaics as cladding. The inset windows are offset from the main geometry of the façade to produce a sawtoothed profi le facing south and west in order to maximise energy gained from the sun.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners Brick Selection The grey/black brick used at 5 Hanover Square is laid in Flemish bond and uses a dark lime mortar to provide a uniform colour across the facade, punctuated by white pre-cast concrete window reveals. Proportion and texture were important when choosing the brick. The De Rijswaard Anthracite Handmade 50mm is a small, slim brick from the Netherlands which is manufactured to allow creases to form, enhancing the texture and depth of the brick surface.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners An early design ambition was to achieve minimal movement joints. The design team were able to reduce the number of vertical movement joints to just one on the primary elevations. Brickwork is tied to both the building structure with vertical steel fi ns as well as horizontal shelf angles running at the head of each of the double height windows. The elasticity of the lime mortar adds further flexibility to the brickwork, and building in traditional nine inch brickwork provided more weight to the envelope and therefore further reduces movement.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners An overriding element of the brickwork construction was the relationship formed between brickwork contractor Lyons Annoot, construction manager Mace and architect Squire and Partners. All members of the team shared the goal of delivering the highest quality brickwork possible, and worked tirelessly to ensure that this was not compromised.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners Photovoltaic Panels Historically London rooftops have expressed the energy consumption of a building, whether it be a chimney, plant machinery or a wind turbine. On this project the setback sixth storey is conceived as a modern mansard, clad to the south and west with Photovoltaic (PV) panels. To the north and east elevations, which receive significantly less sunlight, identical cladding panels are used but without the PV capacity.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners The PV panels were carefully sourced to provide a sleek uniform matt black surface at the top of the building. Windows raking in parallel to the PV panels provide order and articulation to the mansard. The saw-tooth roofline is driven by the optimum angles for the PV’s to maximise collection of solar rays. The highly efficient panels will provide 54kWp, which equates to an estimated carbon saving of 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. This energy is divided between the office building and the five residential apartments.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners The development makes use of renewable energy to limit the use of energy internally, and controls energy gains from external sources. Overall the development is expected to provide 18% Co2 savings when measured against the current 2006 Building Regulations Part L2A. Public Artwork Two areas of public artwork were commissioned for the building, designed by Austrian artist Esther Stocker whose work is inspired by the interruption and disruption of visual grids. The artwork panels extend through the length of the office reception area, continuing beyond the entrance screen to wrap around the external elevation, and are also located in a prominent bay on the south elevation facing Hanover Street. The panels are constructed in a highly complex process which laser-cuts areas from slabs of black granite, inlaying the voids with a white Thassos marble to express fractured grids in a black and white palette.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners Comment from the artist: I’m interested in structures that are ordered and disordered at the same time – the idea that parts of a structure can become autonomous. In some ways the work is quite minimal and simple, but I think there’s complexity within the grid – a transformation within a repetitive structure. And I think this relates to office life: There is routine, but within that, individuality. I was interested in the repetitive structure of 5 Hanover Square. As an artist, I connect to the architectural framework of the grid; it provides a cognitive rhythm for me. I cannot overload it with meaning; that comes from perception. There are forms that you see and those that you don’t, so people’s responses will have a lot to do with the connections they make in their minds.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners Residential A new contemporary Portland stone apartment building on Hanover Street mediates between the black brick office building addressing Hanover Square, and the Grade II listed Portland stone building next door. The building houses five luxury apartments – one per floor – including one stunning duplex with an oversized sliding skylight and private roof terrace. All apartments are dual aspect facing Hanover Street to the south, and a lightwell to the north featuring a vertical green wall planted with a variety of indigenous British plants and grasses. Bird and bat boxes are also installed to promote wildlife in the area.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners Gallery Blain Southern is one of the top contemporary art dealers in the UK representing some of the world’s leading artists. The gallery plans to exhibit both traditional and contemporary multimedia art in the 10,000 sq ft gallery space.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners Squire and Partners Squire and Partners are an award-winning architectural practice who have been designing and executing buildings on key sites in London and internationally for over 35 years. The practice’s approach to design assumes that every site has its own history, character and needs. Derived from a sense of place, buildings respond to underlying themes of materiality, scale and proportion which are common to their locations, whilst revealing a commitment to contemporary design and detailing.  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners  Image Courtesy © Squire and Partners
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Categories: Building, Mixed use, public spaces |
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