180 The Thames

LocationLondon, England
Size550m²
Year2024
StatusStage 4 / on hold

One of the ambitions is our practice is to use high-budget projects as a model for making sustainable, local and waste / found materials desirable.
By turning local waste streams such as crushed brick and slate into beautiful materials, we aim to make ‘sustainability sexy’ at 180 Strand.

The heart of the house is a salon defined by four circular stone columns in Ledmore stone from Scotland and lit by a lantern made of oak and handmade paper.
We conceived of the apartment as a 'palazzo', creating generous and flowing 'free space' towards the river articulated by screens and furniture, served by compact 'service spaces' towards the centre of the plan.
Riverside bedroom suites are replete with individual sitting rooms featuring fluted glass cabinets framed in fumed oak joinery.
The existing building forms part of a complex which stretches from The Strand to the north to Temple place on the south.
The dining room is subtly articulated from the central salon by a low slung cabinet framed in natural oak with ash burl sliding doors.
The kitchen is a niche off the salon — elegant yet pragmatic. The long island echoes the longitude of the apartment itself: A 'construct' made from thin slabs of Ledmore stone.
Every element is vital; every joint considered; every surface left to speak. An architecture of material redolence.
Material floor plan conveying the continuous floor through the flowing space contrasting with the bold staccato service rooms. The colour palettes show a collection of custom pigments and materials made from London waste streams.
The material strategy is predicated on sourcing as much as we can locally to show the splendour right in front of our eyes. We indexed local limestones, marbles, waste stream materials and researched carbon sensitive timber industries.
Our proposal for the building's lobby: Against a ‘curtain-like’ fumed oak backdrop, a rich layering of elements, each articulated in its own individual material, an exposed concrete column, bronze doors, a linen back panel, marble table and leather bench, create a dynamic, yet relaxed atmosphere — the spirit of 180!

Credits

TeamMatt Ball, Annebé Brouwer
CollaboratorWendover Partners

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