124 Horseferry Road | |
---|---|
Channel 4 Headquarters building | |
Alternative names | Channel 4 building |
General information | |
Architectural style | High-tech architecture |
Location | City of Westminster |
Address | Channel Four Television, 124–126 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2TX |
Coordinates | 51°29′45.4″N0°7′58.6″W / 51.495944°N 0.132944°W |
Construction started | 1990 |
Opened | 6 July 1994 |
Cost | £38,500,000 |
Owner | Channel Four Television Corporation |
Height | |
Antenna spire | 43 m (141 ft) [1] |
Roof | 37 m (121 ft) [1] |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 4 |
Floor area | 15,000 m2 (160,000 sq ft) |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Richard Rogers and Partners Project Architects: [2] Marco Goldschmied and John Young (Project Partners) Mark Darbon (Project Lead) Richard Rogers Graham Stirk Mike Davies Mike Fairbrass Stephen Light Avtar Lotay John Lowe Andrew Morris Stephen Spence Martin White |
Structural engineer | Arup Group |
Quantity surveyor | Davis Langdon & Everest / Mott Green Wall |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | 124–126 Horseferry Road [3] |
Designated | 23 March 2023 [3] |
Reference no. | 1479017 [3] |
124 Horseferry Road is the Grade II listed London headquarters for the British television broadcaster, Channel 4. It is located in the City of Westminster, and includes 100 residential apartments. The building was opened on 6 July 1994 and was designed by Richard Rogers and Partners. In January 2024, Channel 4 announced it would sell the building as part of cost-cutting measures. [4]
After a selection process during the autumn of 1990, Channel 4 invited three architectural firms to take part in a competition to design their 15,000 m2 (160,000 sq ft) headquarters building on the south-eastern corner of Chadwick Street and Horseferry Road in a mixed development area of Westminster. [5] [6] The site consisted of an abandoned 10 m (33 ft) deep basement of a proposed 1970s post office building. [6] The architectural brief also incorporated a requirement for a residential development of two blocks of flats including 100 apartments, an underground car park and a small public landscaped park. [5] [6] The three firms chosen were Bennetts Associates, Richard Rogers and Partners and James Stirling. [5]
The Richard Rogers Partnership was chosen from the shortlist. This was the first major building that they had designed since the Lloyd's building (1978–1986). [7] Construction began in 1990 and was completed in 1994. It was built on a design and build basis. The building consists of two four-storey office blocks that are connected to a central entrance block in an L shape. [6] The entrance has a concave glazed wall. [8] The building is finished in grey steel cladding, which is perforated by red-ochre steel struts. John Young, the project architect, said that the colour was "taken from a paint sample provided by the City of San Francisco: it is the same colour as the Golden Gate Bridge". [7]
The building was listed at Grade II by Historic England on 23 March 2023. [3]
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The year 1994 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
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Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company which runs 12 television channels and a streaming service. Unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is instead funded entirely by its own commercial activities. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4.
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Bowellism is a modern architectural style heavily associated with Richard Rogers. It is described as a transient architectural and flippant style that was influenced by Le Corbusier and Antoni Gaudí. The style consists of services for the building, such as ducts, sewage pipes, and lifts, being located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.
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Horseferry Road is a street in the City of Westminster in central London running between Millbank and Greycoat Place. It is perhaps best known as the site of City of Westminster Magistrates' Court. The ubiquity of the magistrates' court in newspaper crime reports means that the road name has wide recognition in the UK. Other notable institutions which are or have been located on Horseferry Road include Broadwood and Sons, the Gas Light and Coke Company, British Standards Institution, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Burberry Group, the Environment Agency headquarters in Horseferry House, the National Probation Service, the Department for Transport at no. 33 and Channel 4. The Marsham Street Home Office building backs on to this road.
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The Big 4 is a sculpture made of steel bars located outside the headquarters of the Channel Four Television Corporation in London. It is designed to represent the logo of Channel 4 while providing a basis for a number of art installations. As of November 2012 seven installations have been made on the statue's steel framework, including those to coincide with the 2012 Summer Paralympics, covered with both newsprint and umbrellas, and a design to simulate the statue breathing. A further dressing to celebrate the devolution of Channel 4 from London to a series of regionally-based offices, alongside the Horseferry Road HQ has recently been approved and will be erected later in 2019.
Graham Carl Stirk is an architect and senior partner at RSHP. He joined the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1983 and by 2007 the name of the practice changed to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to reflect his contribution to the practice, along with Ivan Harbour, later renamed RSHP, after the death of Richard Rogers.
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