engineering.
Our client wanted somewhere to sit and watch boats go by on the River Thames; Brookes Stacey Randall’s design is a glass box whose light and thin roof seems to float above a deck which itself seems to hover over the riverbank.
A glass box for viewing passing boats on the banks of the Thames
Our approach was to give specific structural purposes to the minimal palette of materials, chosen for their aesthetic qualities. The glass walls provide vertical rigidity which keeps the steel structure as discreet as possible and removes the need for secondary elements.
The floorboards stiffen the structure, and the concrete slab makes an anchor to the three pile foundations – two under the slab and one under the pair of inclined columns in a dense, straight-grained West African hardwood, ekki. Making each component perform several tasks keeps the overall number to a minimum, delivering the visual effect that the architect and client sought.
1997 – RIBA Award
TTP
Two
'Radiant Lines'
A Brick
One
The Stephen A. Schwarzman
Albert Bridge House.
Edgar's
Luton Power Court
St Pancras
Wind Sculpture
Sentosa
The
Liverpool
Georges Malaika
Cherry
Khudi
Haus
10 Lewis
'Drift'
The
Seratech
Apex
UCB
Manor Road
17 Charterhouse
Brent Cross 
100
Brent Cross 
Chapter