BESPOKE ADDITION FOR
A BUILDING WITH ‘EDGE’
An office and retail development in central London gave GEZE UK
some big ideas for a bespoke entrance solution.
Four Kingdom Street is the first of two office buildings to be completed
at British Land’s canal-side Paddington Central development.
The nine-storey re-designed building comprises of more than 145,000
ft of space near to Paddington railway station. With communal roof
terraces on all floors, a roof garden with views over Little Venice and
sporting facilities, including the highest basketball court in London, it
needed a proud entrance to complete an imposing aspect.
A tailor-made solution was devised with Focchi S.p.A., a leading
company in the curtain walling sector, which was commissioned to
execute an industrial aesthetic with city chic, created by architects
Allies and Morrison.
GEZE UK worked with its German parent company to adapt its TSA 325
NT manual revolving doors to produce two, three-leafed, glass-topped
entrances with extra height – the doors are 3.5m high compared to the
standard 3m.
The doors have positioning drives which mean that after someone has
walked through them, they continue to rotate until parked with the
leaf wings close to the edges of the openings. The parking mechanism
is driven by a motor installed beneath the floor.
The doors were installed within the line of the building to provide a
flush frontage under the overhang of the first floor. Inside, the leaves
of the revolving doors are powder coated to match the façade and
echo the engineering/transportation elements of the design concept
– a subtle nod to the heritage of the site - a former railway goods yard.
Between the revolving doors is a pass door powered by GEZE’s
Powerturn swing door operator.
This aesthetic was applied inside and out: each elevation features
vertical and horizontal aluminium fins of many shapes and sizes
which lend a bold aspect to Four Kingdom Street.
It incorporates a structural steel frame and rougher, industrial
materials, not usually incorporated into commercial offices, which
contribute to its personality. Focchi describe it as “an office building
with a bit of an edge”.
Said Andy Howland, director of sales and marketing for GEZE UK: “Four
Kingdom Street presented us with an exacting and challenging brief
which required us to be adaptable to meet those needs. We liaised
with our parent company in Leonberg to ensure that we could meet
the desired spec without compromising the integrity of the products
and in doing so were able to deliver a bespoke configuration for this
special project.”
For more information about GEZE UK’s comprehensive range of
automatic and manual door closers call 01543 443000 or visit
www.geze.co.uk