Ropemaker Place, London

By virtue of their size, large corporations face a spatial problem of creating a unified community and leveraging their considerable knowledge sharing potential. Macquarie, an Australian financial services company, took a radical approach to connecting its separate divisions with its new London headquarters. Having been fragmented in different buildings, Macquarie leased 216,000SF in 6 large floors for 1,800 staff, in a new LEED Platinum/BREAAM rated building.

Stacked floors in office buildings present an innate barrier to business connectivity. In an effort to facilitate a clear and open connection between the corporate divisions, we worked with Macquarie to carve out a new vertical opening in the form of an Atrium. Working between the existing structural steel bays, a six-story organically shaped volume was created. Planned along desire lines connecting the different functions, a new continuous staircase traverses the Atrium and has become the visible banner of connectivity. To stress its importance in connectivity, the stair was painted red, with LED lights illuminating the treads.

Description by architects