F E AT U R E
5. Stephenson House – planting and seating create multifunctional outdoor spaces for working, relaxing and events. © Visual by Cityscape Digital
6. Stephenson House – pocket gardens on front elevation link through internal workspace to roof terraces at the rear. © Marks Barfield Architects
Positive greening of the inner city environment will encourage people to come to work where they can interact in a healthy urban location.
5 Ian Rudolph
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for architects to rethink cities from the inside out. They need to attract workers back to city centres and allow neighbourhoods to thrive while addressing the climate change crisis. At Marks Barfield Architects, our latest workplace-driven, mixed use scheme Stephenson House (currently under construction in Euston) uses many of the International Well Building Institute principles to enhance the environment. With the help of The Landscape Partnership, our use of biophilic design enhances not only the interior atrium but also the exterior roof terraces – the hidden public realm. Positive greening of the inner-city environment will encourage people to come to work where they can interact in a healthy urban location. Throughout the building, there is natural daylight and views to nature through the use of planting at different levels. To encourage exercise, a feature staircase emerges from a sunken garden, inviting
people to bypass the lifts and climb over six stories. Double-height pocket gardens link niche gardens on the external façade, with double-height internal workspaces extending to roof terraces at the rear. The pocket gardens are adaptable internal workspaces with the potential to double up as places for additional staircases to connect, giving maximum flexibility for improved commercial benefit.
In the context of COVID-19, there is an obvious drive towards living a healthier life. Lower pollution levels (due to reduced traffic) and a reluctance to use public transport has lead people to choose cycling as their main mode of travel. The public realm and office buildings have to adjust to this. Our Euston project reuses the underground car park by transforming it into a cycle hub; a new front door
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