London, United Kingdom

Fletcher Priest’s Brunel Building, a 17-storey new-build workplace building designed for Derwen London, overlooks the Grand Union Canal and Paddington Station, the London terminus to the Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway, and is next to the site of Brunel’s first-ever bridge.

The elevated A40 expressway runs past and the Elizabeth Line, the new cross-London railway, stops near-by. One hundred-year-old cast-iron subway tunnels run beneath the site.

This unique and evocative context sets the tone for the design of Brunel Building with landscaping design by Plincke, Barton Willmore.

The brief called for development with an innovative workspace that would attract occupiers, as well as highlighting the significance and amenity of the area.

The solution was also technically driven by the presence of the canal and two Bakerloo Line underground tunnels running across one corner of the site.

Fletcher Priest’s proposal for a steel diagrid exoskeleton refers to Brunel’s now lost Great Western Railway viaducts.

It is not only c but allows the building to span the tube lines.

The building is pulled back at this corner to reduce loading, while a line of piles between the two tunnels helps to distribute foundation loads.

Pushing the superstructure to the outside of the 32,912 sqm building delivers column-free internal floor space – spanning 12-16m to the dispersed central cores and 66m from end to end.

Occupiers can have maximum flexibility with their fit-outs and enjoy unimpeded views.

The external structure shades windows, allowing larger areas of glazing and deep daylight penetration.

Beams are tapered as they approach the facade, permitting the use of taller perimeter glazing and further increasing daylight.

This impression of light and space is further enhanced by the high floor-to-ceiling dimensions.

This aesthetic means that materials such as concrete, steel, and sawn oak have been left exposed internally, and service ducts and pipes are visible.

Extra emphasis has been put on the quality of construction – a particular challenge in areas such as the core, where huge areas of concrete required a consistent finish and had to remain protected during construction.

Extensive full-scale physical mock-ups and integrated digital modeling became key design tools.

Environment and social sustainability were central to the ambitions of both the design team and the client.

The existing building on the site spanned this section of the canal blocking access and views along the canal.

The canal-side walk is now publicly accessible for the first time in more than 200 years and will eventually provide new pedestrian routes to nearby Little Venice, as well as a new public spaceμ and artwork.

Brunel Building is one of the surprisingly few canal-side developments in London with its main entrance on a canal.

Project: Brunel Building
Architects: Fletcher Priest Architects
Landscape Architects: Plincke, Barton Willmore
Main Contractor: Laing O’Rourke
Client: Derwent London
Project Manager: Gardiner & Theobald
Photographers: Dirk Lindner, Jack Hobhouse, Raluca Ciorbaru, Tim Fallon