Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Exchange House

Exchange House, Primrose Street, Broadgate, London

Exchange House
Primrose Street
Broadgate, City of London
London, January 2008

“When it opened in 1990, London’s Exchange House became an instant classic, one that exemplified a core belief at SOM that virtually all of the world’s cities can generate new urban space. Here, the space was found by utilizing air rights and applying sophisticated engineering techniques to the architectural design. Exchange House is a building-bridge hybrid: Its form and structure are built on an exposed steel bridge spanning a 78-meter-long rail yard. A platform arches over the train tracks, enabling the Liverpool Street Station to function normally underneath a 10-story office building. Four parallel structural arches, two expressed externally and two internally, provide the building’s skeleton, enabling column-free interior spaces.” (Exchange House, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)

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