The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 2 of 81The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Interior Photography, LightingThe Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Exterior Photography, Windows, FacadeThe Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 5 of 81The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - More Images+ 76

  • Design Team: Patrick Lynch, Claudia Lynch, David Evans
  • Artist: Timorous Beasties
  • Client: Land Securities
  • City: Greater London
  • Country: United Kingdom
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The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 27 of 81
© Tim Soar

Text description provided by the architects. The Zig Zag Building replaces a 1950s office block on Victoria Street in central London, close to The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, with exemplary new office space. Colonnades at various scales indicate and define the entrances to the various different types of accommodation housed within the broader scope of our project e.g. offices, housing, restaurants, shops, bars, etc. Situated between a cathedral and a town hall, the design seeks to mediate between these two in terms of size and scale and to establish a credible and pleasurable urban spatial order connecting together the grain of this part of Westminster.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 77 of 81
Sketch

The relationships between the inside and outside of the building are articulated as a series of thresholds in carefully calibrated, shaded, open-able, yet mostly transparent façades that nonetheless appear solid from afar. Layers of shading not only add scale to the elevations, but also vary across the different orientations, offering occupants the possibility of the enjoyment of fresh air and natural light - along with the virtuous preservation of natural resources.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 2 of 81
© David Grandorge

On the upper levels, above the retail accommodation at ground and first floor, the office facade has six principal components. The first is the internal structural columns, which are circular with minimal diameter.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Interior Photography, Lighting
© David Grandorge

This avoids an awkward relationship with the second element, the curtain wall, which has C31 anodized pale bronze-coloured stable-door style openable panels set up on a 1.5m grid and 3m panel. At least 2.5% of an office floor area must be openable façade to enable the fire brigade to purge smoke after a fire, and around the same proportion needs to be insulated. We have combined these two parameters to create a shutter that enables cross ventilation and which forms a Juliette balcony when fully opened. The façade works in tandem with the energy strategy for the building generally.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 72 of 81
Skecth
The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Exterior Photography, Windows
© Rory Allen
The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 73 of 81
Detail Sketch

Capillary cooling in the concrete floor slab, combined with chilled beams, creates the possibility of omitting a conventional suspended ceiling, thus creating a floor-to-ceiling height of over 3.3m. In front of the curtain wall, and separated by a 50mm gap, are the third element, 3.7m x 65mm thick anodized fins of varying depths, that shade the façade from solar gain from the east and west.  At the lowest level, the fins are set at 1.5m centres and are 600mm deep, gradually diminishing in width and depth on successive floors i.e. as they get closer together they cast more shadow, and thus their depth reduces accordingly to conserve materials. This has the effect of making the building appear taller and more statuesque.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Exterior Photography, Facade, Windows
© Tim Soar

The fourth element is the horizontal cill that shades the facade from the south midday summer sun and which remains a constant depth throughout. The fifth element is a hanging translucent glass ‘doily’ protects the façade from solar gain and glare arising from spring and autumn midday sun, which is not quite at the zenith at noon but nonetheless often intense. The doily is made up of laminated glass with a printed inter-layer depicting a variety of images of onyx. Finally, the “zigzag” geometry of the building exaggerates the play of light and shadow across the façade, and this variety is complimented by patterns made as occupants open different parts of it on warm days.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 79 of 81
Sketch

The translucent doilies register another layer of inhabitation and respond to seasonal and diurnal time, as, in the winter months, they begin to glow towards the end of the working day. Terraces are planted with trees and flowers, emphasizing still further the presence of the natural world within the working lives of the inhabitants. Concern for the well-being of inhabitants is balanced by the care taken in the design of the landscape by Vogt, and is reflected in the art works of Rut Blees-Luxemburg and Timorous Beasties. The Zig Zag Building was pre-let to Deutsche Bank and to Jupiter Asset Management. The project won the Best Office Building award at The World Architecture Festival, held in Berlin in November 2016.

The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects - Image 25 of 81
© David Grandorge

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Project location

Address:70 Victoria St, Westminster, London SW1E 6SQ, UK

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "The Zig Zag Building / Lynch Architects" 19 Dec 2016. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/801465/the-zig-zag-building-lynch-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

© Hufton and Crow

锯齿形大楼 / Lynch Architects

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