Concrete Elegance: London focus

The next Concrete Elegance lecture features two recent projects in London: Photography Studio for Juergen Teller and London Bridge Station. Both of these projects use concrete for structural and aesthetic purposes, including smooth and board-marked surface textures, but at very different scales of execution.

Speakers include:

- Carlos Sanchez and Tom Benton, project architects at 6A architects
(Photography Studio for Juergen Teller)

- William York, structural engineer at Price & Myers Engineers
(Photography Studio for Juergen Teller)

- Dominic Seah, project architect at Grimshaw Architects
(London Bridge Station)

- Polly Bowman, senior agent at Costain
(London Bridge Station)

- Jonathan Reid, director of GreyMatter Concrete
(London Bridge Station)

Case studies:

Photography Studio for Juergen Teller presented by 6A architects and Price & Myers Engineers - Across a long and narrow plot in West London, 6a architects have designed a series of three buildings and gardens for photographer Juergen Teller. The three new buildings contain offices, an archive, a top-lit studio space, a kitchen, a library and an ensemble of ancillary rooms. With few views out, daylight instead pours through a grid of concrete ceiling beams. Poured concrete external walls mesh the new building into the residual fragments of existing brick boundaries. Externally the sawn-timber shuttering that marks the concrete surfaces matches the height of a London brick, while inside white concrete blocks and lime mortar form the load bearing walls. Two raked concrete stairs lead to darkrooms above whilst also bracing the studio space, the only interruptions in the open room. Juergen Teller has documented the building process in a series of fashion shoots on-site. He continues to take photographs throughout the buildings and gardens; the architecture and plant life forming a background to the guests, subjects and photographer.

London Bridge Station Redevelopment presented by Grimshaw, Costain and Greymatter Concrete - Crowned by a rippling canopy and underpinned by an expansive public concourse, the redevelopment of London Bridge Station creates a unified site that includes extended platforms, integrated new street level entrances and three new through tracks; increasing capacity to the city and creating improved links to onward travel. Beneath the tracks, the new concourse – larger than Wembley Stadium’s pitch – creates a grand street-level space that is lit by reflecting northern light between the above platform voids, which span between giant shaped columns of exposed concrete. Concrete is used extensively throughout the project with long cast in-situ platform walls in exposed self-compacting concrete, precast platforms, vaulted arches of board-marked concrete and glass reinforced concrete cladding. The project is presented by architect, contractor and post-finishing contractor reflecting the complexity, co-ordination and team work necessary to achieve such an ambitious feat of engineering and architecture.

Chaired by Elaine Toogood