Archetech Issue 40 2019 | Page 43

Set between these facades, a staircase rises at the end of Denmark Street enclosed with a frameless glass wall and capped with a glass roof, flanked on two sides by walls of embossed concrete. The south- western flank of the building reinforces the historic streetscape of the High Street concealed by the modernist planning of the 1960s complex and completes the elevation with a decorative and detailed facade of white precast concrete. The building is a highly efficient single-core arrangement with interlocking units planned to provide remarkable urban homes, raised above the pedestrian level by a ground floor retail unit. UNDERTAKING A CIVIC ROLE, THE BUILDING ACTS AS BOTH A GATEWAY TO THE NEW ST GILES SQUARE AND DEFINES A NEW PUBLIC SPACE IN FRONT REINFORCING THE HISTORIC STREETSCAPE.