Piano completes opinion-dividing development in central London

摘要

The 50,000m~2 Central St Giles development, clad with more than 130,000 coloured terracotta tiles, is Renzo Piano's first completed building in the UK. The Italian architect says 'the levitated, articulated and colourful buildings' bring 'heart and soul into a forgotten part of London's urban fabric'. The 21-sided development, on a 0.6ha site close to Richard Seifert's Centre Point tower, replaces a 1960s Ministry of Defence building. Backed by Legal & General Property and the Mitsubishi Estate Company, the project houses 37,625 m~2 of office space, 56 private apartments and 53 affordable homes in five interconnected structures, the tallest of which is 15 storeys. Nine new restaurants and bars open on to a central public piazza.