“Historic location. Future thinking.”
“High-quality office and retail accommodation in the heart of the City of London. 94,000sqft over 10 floors with four feature terraces.”
(The Monument Building)
About The Building
The Monument Building is a 10 storey building designed by Make Architects and creates a backdrop to the monument that commemorates the Great Fire of London. The building has 8,000m2 of office space and 370m2 for use by retailers. Four of the floors include terraces to give a view of London. The whole building has been designed to be a comfortable modern building that really values sustainability and it focused to meet the criteria of BREEM to gain the BREEM excellent environmental standard. The building has a green roof, solar panels and an intelligent lighting control system.
Light and Shade
One of the most striking features of the Monument building is the “twisting fins” on the south side of the building made from anodised aluminium. The fins create the buildings signature pattern and are designed to allow as much natural light in as possible, while shading the south side of the building from heat gain that would affect the internal temperature and environment. This is a very important element of the buildings construction and architecture that affect the interior design, the interior conditions, visibility from interior to exterior and the aesthetic of the building.
Why I chose the Monument Building as a Precedent for my FMP?
There are a few reasons that I chose the Monument Building as a precedent for my FMP as I was looking for buildings that used the same materials as Hongkou Soho as I like how pleated or twisted anodised aluminium is used as a facade to manipulate light and heat.
Architectural Materials to Manipulate Natural Light – The south facing facade of the Monument building is designed so that the twisted design of the facade will allow as much natural light in as possible without overheating the building. I would maybe like to add something to my building that possibly does this. I am exploring the idea of using pleated aluminium and glass as an architectural material for my extension which will have a part which is south facing and I do not want it to get too hot in the midday sun as it would if it was just glass alone. This research was developed from looking at Hongkou Soho by Kengo Kuma and looking at pleated and twisted anodised aluminium. Also my design concept is light, therefore, it is a good material to consider using.
For more information on the Monument Building, please visit the website and have a look at some useful links listed below:
http://themonumentbuilding.com/
http://www.skanska.co.uk/expertise/projects/167269/The-Monument-Building
http://www.buildington.co.uk/london-ec3/11-19-monument-street/monument-building/id/3640
