Wednesday, September 1, 2004

The Ark

The Ark by Ralph Erskine, Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, 
London

The Ark by Ralph Erskine, 1992
Talgarth Road, Hammersmith
London, September 2003

“The Ark is an office building located in Hammersmith, London. The building lies immediately south of the Hammersmith Flyover. Named in reference to its hull-like profile, the Ark was designed by architect Ralph Erskine, for Swedish developers Ake Larson and Pronator. Erskine, based in Sweden, worked from a small office in collaboration with other trusted architects in order to retain design freedom. In the case of the Ark, Erskine and Vernon Gracie (who worked with Erskine on Byker Wall in Newcastle) collaborated with London architects Rock Townsend and latterly Lennart Bergstrom in Stockholm. Planning permission for the building was granted on 19 September 1989; building commenced the same day and the complex was completed in 1992. Owing to the difficult economic circumstances at the time, Ake Larson's UK division did not survive to occupy the building. Drinks company Seagram subsequently occupied the Ark from 1996 until it was bought by Vivendi Universal in 2000.” (The Ark, Wikipedia)

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