The design of an all glass apartment complex

Ian Ritchie, Ian Ritchie Architects Limited

Securing planning permission has become a long process in the UK. For a sensitive site such as Potters Fields which is adjacent to Tower Bridge and opposite the Tower of London, the process is even longer.

It took four and half years from the initial concept to the granting of planning permission. During this period there have been Building Regulation changes, the Mayor of London’s office – the GLA, has moved to an adjacent site, land acquisition by the Client has extended the site, rising residential markets, inflating cost of building materials, and the granting of planning consent to the nearby London Bridge Tower (Shard of Glass), among many other events. The design for Potters Fields was carried out amidst these changing circumstances.

In this paper, we examine how some of these changes have impacted on the design development of the project, with a particular focus on the glass façade and the glass technology involved. We hope to show the increasing importance for designers and industry to anticipate and pre-empt changes in order to safeguard the design integrity of the architectural concept.

Full Text Article [466 KB]

The Authors

Mr. Ian Ritchie Architect Ian Ritchie Architects Ian Ritchie, born 1947 in Hove, Great Britain. Director of Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd and co-founded Rice Francis Ritchie (RFR) design engineers, Paris; these practices have realised and contributed t... Read more