Barbican Old City Police Station

If there’s one thing we’ve learned makes better buildings, it’s empathy. Architecture never happens in isolation—and simply by being interested and engaged, we’ve found it’s possible to open up the conversations that connect a scheme to its clients and community.

We believe that the more constraints there are, the better the architecture. If there aren’t any constraints, we create them. Challenging sites, existing buildings and complex briefs almost always present incredible opportunities for great design.

To limit our environmental impact, we start with what is already there. By manipulating the form and fabric of a building—whether new or existing—we can work with the existing conditions of topography, light and orientation, and harness the natural energy sources offered by air, ground and water.

If a site’s constraints guide the bigger design decisions, then it’s empathy that informs the smaller, social details. These details frame the human narratives that aren’t included in the brief, anticipating specific moments in the users’ lives.

Good architecture is as much about what happens on the building site as it is about what’s on the drawing board. By working alongside contractors as well as clients we can ring-fence the ideas and details that matter, championing quality and sustainability throughout construction.

Barbican Old Police Station

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Work

Barbican Old Police Station
Grade II Listed
Barbican Estate, London

Client

Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture

The conversion of the plinth level of the Shakespeare Tower, Barbican from the City of London Police Station to a new, fit for purpose office for Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture.

The works reclaimed the 1960s two-storey glazed façade as the centre piece creating the illusion of weightlessness of the 43 storey Shakespeare tower. A sense of lightness and openness was attained by removing the existing partitions and suspended ceiling. The M&E system was also renewed, including ventilation and fire alarms to improve efficiency.

Our approach was to undertake minimal interventions to make the property fit for purpose whilst retaining its modernist character. The Police Station was previously stripped of many original features creating the opportunity to re-establish the mid-century modern aesthetic of the Barbican throughout the design. To further protect this heritage asset, furniture was designed and built to be removable and a green material palette was chosen.