2 St. James Street
Grade II listed building redevelopment within a constrained conservation area
Location
Central London
Client
Berry Bros and Rudd
Partner
Short & Associates Architects / MJP Architects
Sector
Workplace, Hotel & Hospitality, Heritage
Theme
Retrofit, Tall Buildings
Services Provided
In collaboration with Short & Associates Architects and MJP Architects, we have designed this nine-storey building for Berry Bros & Rudd wine and spirit merchants.
The building comprises a two-storey subterranean hospitality suite for wine tasting and teaching events with modern offices above.
The site is located at the corner of St James’s Street and Pall Mall in the epicentre of the St. James’ Conservation Area. The site is landlocked and highly constrained. Occupying the former site of 62 and 63 Pall Mall, it is surrounded by Grade 2* listed buildings. Richard Norman Shaw’s 1881, Alliance Assurance Building bounds the site to the west and Pickering Place, the oldest surviving complete Georgian square in London, bounds the site to the north. The new building goes deeper and interlocks with these buildings, whilst at the same time respecting their historic and structurally delicate nature. 62 and 63 Pall Mall were separate buildings with misaligned floor levels. The façade of No. 63 was retained. The façade retention, deconstruction of existing building structure behind, and new basement process was worked up in close collaboration with a specialist temporary works contractor and includes cross-propping between the Alliance Assurance Building and 61 Pall Mall during construction.
A key criterion of the brief was to provide unhindered floor plates. Demolishing 62 and 63 Pall Mall created an 11.5m wide space, but a planning requirement to retain the façade of No. 63 meant the floor to floor height was limited. 275mm thick post-tensioned concrete floor slabs supported by perimeter RC columns and an offset RC core were adopted to allow column free spaces.
The new 2-storey basement was just above the perched ground water level. A 450mm contiguous piled wall was adopted to form the retaining walls. Further bearing piles are used to support the building and anchor it against hydraulic uplift forces.
The rear north-west corner of the site is over existing listed cellars, which remained in use throughout the construction. Thus it was not feasible to take support through this area. An idea was developed and implemented to make good use of this space by cantilevering the main circulation stair over it, minimising the core’s intrusion into of the main office floorplates.
The development includes the refurbishment of the existing basement and rear courtyard to the neighbouring Grade 1 listed Berry Bros & Rudd building, designed by Richard Norman Shaw, and new connections through it.