Merit: 1 & 2 London Wall Place

FACT FILE
Architect: make
Structural engineer: WSP UK Ltd
Steelwork contractor: William Hare
Main contractor: Multiplex Construction Europe
Client: London Wall Place Limited PartnershipSteelwork lies at the heart of the London Wall Place development. It was decided early in the design process that the optimum superstructure solution for both buildings would be steel frames with concrete floors and concrete cores.

Sharing a two-storey basement, the buildings rise to 12 storeys (1 London Wall Place is 55m tall) and 16 storeys (2 London Wall Place is 75m tall) respectively, with their steel superstructures laterally stabilised by a series of reinforced concrete shear walls that form the main lift and stair cores.

“The scheme’s main challenge was to provide a solution for the buildings that could maximise the built floor area, while responding to the many constraints imposed by existing site conditions, planning views and rights of light,” says WSP Director Stephen Jackson.

“This resulted in a structural form with heroically long cantilevers, long span transfer structures and complex geometry to create the building set-backs at the upper levels. This could not have been achieved without the use of steel.”

The largest transfer structure within 1 London Wall Place is 2m-deep and weighs 72t.

At 2 London Wall Place (south elevation) a 5m-deep mega-truss at level two enables all 15 floors above it to cantilever by an impressive 35m, as well as 16m along the east elevation. The weight of the mega-truss is almost the same as the weight of the 15 floors above.

The judges say the use of steel has been instrumental in enabling the two buildings to cantilever out over the existing road. A 5m deep mega-truss at level 2, with enormous steel members passing through it, offers the opportunity for a highly unusual new dining space.