124 Horseferry Road
Channel 4 Headquarters building
Channel 4 Headquarters with the Big 4 sculpture in the foreground
General information
Architectural styleHigh-tech architecture
LocationCity of Westminster
AddressChannel Four Television, 124-126 Horseferry Road, London
SW1P 2TX
Coordinates51°29′45.4″N 0°7′58.6″W / 51.495944°N 0.132944°W / 51.495944; -0.132944
Construction started1990
Opened6 July 1994 (1994-07-06)
Cost£38,500,000
OwnerChannel Four Television Corporation
Height
Antenna spire43 m (141 ft)[1]
Roof37 m (121 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count4
Floor area15,000 m2 (160,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firmRichard Rogers and Partners
Project Architects:[2]
John Young (Project Partner)
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 engineerArup Group
Quantity surveyorDavis Langdon & Everest / Mott Green Wall
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name124-126 Horseferry Road[3]
Designated23 March 2023 (2023-03-23)[3]
Reference no.1479017[3]

124 Horseferry Road is the Grade II listed headquarters for the British television broadcaster, Channel 4. It is located in the City of Westminster, London and includes 100 residential apartments. The building was opened on 6 July 1994 and was designed by Richard Rogers and Partners.

Design and construction

Entrance to the building

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.[4][5] The site consisted of an abandoned 10 m (33 ft) deep basement of a proposed 1970s post office building.[5] 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.[4][5] The three firms chosen were Bennetts Associates, Richard Rogers and Partners and James Stirling.[4]

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).[6] 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.[5] The entrance has a concave glazed wall.[7] 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".[6]

The building was listed at Grade II by Historic England on 23 March 2023.[3]

See also

Awards and nominations

References

  1. 1 2 "Channel 4 Television Headquarters". skyscrapernews.com. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Channel 4". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Historic England. "Channel Four Television, 124–126 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2TX (Grade II) (1479017)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Channel 4 Headquarters, Horseferry Road" (PDF). Bennetts Associates. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Description of Channel 4 HQ". buildington.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Through a glass, imaginatively: Richard Rogers' headquarters for Channel 4 mirrors its innovative style of programming, says Jonathan Glancey". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "Channel 4 Building - Horseferry Road, London, UK". manchesterhistory.net. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
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