Atmospheric Disturbances

Hybrid Consolidation of Work and Leisure.

Tessellating Hybridization

The London City contains one of the world’s most significant financial districts with its vast network of banks, petroleum headquarters as well as some of London’s finest estate agents. In order to satisfy its needs the City also contains various small businesses and a local market, which corresponds to the majority of the area’s employees. The growth of this part of London demanded the reconstruction of both the London Underground and Over ground transportation Services. The City was enhanced with a new London Underground line, the Waterloo and City line, which ran from London Waterloo Station, directly to Cannon Street Station, in London City. This particular route had a significant value through the years, as Waterloo Station is not only one of the biggest Railway Stations in London, but also up until late 2007 it had been London’s direct railway connection to Paris, Lille and Brussels.

Regarding its infrastructural behaviour, the site can be divided into two main categories.

The first category contains the local markets and small private businesses which are located on ground level, spreading throughout the site on a horizontal axis, with a footprint of one Kilometres West to East and approximately five hundred meters North to South. Raison d’etre, City’s chronological development from 1700s London to the 1950s and 1960s.

The second category, which floorished as the City started gaining global financial significance and it contains the numerous Banks, Estate Agents and Global Financial Companies. These offices are located inside modern towers that have been built from the 1960s to the late 1990s, while some are currently under construction. The high density of business spaces resulted in the severe need of more building proposals to follow one after the other in decades. From the 1960s onwards the buildings throughout City are of vertical nature.

As the City rapidly grows vertically, with proposals competing in terms of height, there seems to be the lack of an infrustructral system to connect these two categories. Even though the towers get taller and more spatial, at present they seem to be lacking in staying self sufficient, hence there is a dependancy to the horizontal conditions of the site. At the same time, due to the high density of employment the horizontal network needs to extend vertically in order to be kept within the City’s boundaries.

For my final project I aim to introduce a new typology, an independent self sustained structural system adjusted to the needs of the site. This typology shall introduce a new hybrid condition of work and leisure spaces, trying to emphasize and contribute in filling in the gap that exists between the horizontal and vertical conditions of the site. Using triangular tessellating design methods, the structure will create both large and small independent spaces which will follow both horizontal and vertical directions. The new typology aims to create a vast network of leisure and work spaces, both for small and large scale companies.