The Leadenhall Building
London, England · 2006
Photo · Photomontage by Cityscape
A prime precedent for high-tech structural expressionism, showcasing a tapered wedge profile, an external steel diagrid, and a color-coded service core that maximizes floorplate efficiency.
- What we like about this project
- The bright yellow painted steelwork of the external lift shafts and service core provides a vivid color contrast to the silver steel and blue glass.
Materials
- glass
- steel
- painted-steel
Visual identifiers
- tapered-skyscraper
- steel-diagrid
- yellow-service-core
- inclined-facade
- glass-curtain-wall
Style tags
- high-tech
- structural-expressionism
- british-high-tech
Visual tags
- high-tech-architecture
- structural-expressionism
- commercial-office
- urban-density
- mega-structure
- Geometry
- A soaring, wedge-shaped skyscraper with a steeply inclined, tapering glass facade on one side and a vertical services core on the other.
- Facade system
- Double-glazed cavity curtain wall with integrated structural steel diagrid.
- Structural guess
- External steel mega-frame with a lateral stability diagrid and a concrete/steel service core.
- Spatial scale
- Mega-scale commercial skyscraper rising dozens of stories above a pedestrianized street plaza.
- Lighting
- Bright, clear daylight casting crisp shadows across the structural steel diagrid and highlighting the yellow service core.
- Atmosphere
- Sleek, highly engineered, and futuristic against a deep blue sky.
- Environmental context
- Dense urban financial district in London, flanked by modern mid-rise office blocks and historic stone structures.
- Spatial experience
- The building tapers dramatically as it rises, creating a highly dynamic, soaring vertical perspective from the street level.
- Composition rhythm
- The diagonal lines of the external steel mega-frame create a repeating triangular rhythm that scales down as the building rises.
- Style reading
- High-Tech Structural Expressionism
- Program
- Commercial office headquarters
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, steel, painted-steel
- Visual identifiers
- tapered-skyscraper, steel-diagrid, yellow-service-core, inclined-facade, glass-curtain-wall
- Style tags
- high-tech, structural-expressionism, british-high-tech
- Visual tags
- high-tech-architecture, structural-expressionism, commercial-office, urban-density, mega-structure
- Geometry
- A soaring, wedge-shaped skyscraper with a steeply inclined, tapering glass facade on one side and a vertical services core on the other.
- Facade system
- Double-glazed cavity curtain wall with integrated structural steel diagrid.
- Structural guess
- External steel mega-frame with a lateral stability diagrid and a concrete/steel service core.
- Spatial scale
- Mega-scale commercial skyscraper rising dozens of stories above a pedestrianized street plaza.
- Lighting
- Bright, clear daylight casting crisp shadows across the structural steel diagrid and highlighting the yellow service core.
- Atmosphere
- Sleek, highly engineered, and futuristic against a deep blue sky.
- Environmental context
- Dense urban financial district in London, flanked by modern mid-rise office blocks and historic stone structures.
- Spatial experience
- The building tapers dramatically as it rises, creating a highly dynamic, soaring vertical perspective from the street level.
- Composition rhythm
- The diagonal lines of the external steel mega-frame create a repeating triangular rhythm that scales down as the building rises.
- Style reading
- High-Tech Structural Expressionism
- Program
- Commercial office headquarters
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture