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Drapers Gardens Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2 Drapers Gardens is set within the City of London and unlike many of its peers, this striking concrete office block has a commanding presence. However, like many post-war buildings it faces imminent demolition and replacement with a contemporary scheme. It is an exceptional building by architect Richard Seifert, and contemporary to the Grade II listed Centre Point by the same practice. Begun in 1963, Drapers Gardens rises up above a network of labyrinthine streets and courtyards of the Bank Conservation Area, in which the tower is included. The white mosaic and green-tinted glass windows compose a facade that gives an interesting break amongst a skyline of many less imaginative buildings. The curved tower rises up to twenty-eight floors and 336 feet above the one-acre site, yet projected bands create a dynamic feeling of horizontality. It was built by flat slab construction and has a reinforced concrete central core that absorbs lateral forces and main floor loads. The salient feature of Drapers Gardens is the podium area, an enclosed garden space approached by steps from the pavement, with more steps that reach around the building to the rear paved space. The tower is cantilevered at second floor level from the central core, with the shaped cantilevers corresponding to the eight internal columns either side of this core. The result is an interesting example of design, creating a triangular rhythm where it meets the first floor. This creates a feeling of great lightness, as well as enabling the ground floor areas to be almost free of columns. Drapers Gardens is an iconic building that has become a reference point for the City and one that Seifert has described as his proudest achievement. Its demolition would be an enormous loss to the City. With this in mind, the Society has put forward this building for urgent statutory listing. In response, Drapers Gardens received a Certificate of Immunity in June 2002, a legal guarantee that the building would not be listed for five years from the date of issue of this Certificate. Despite the Certificate of Immunity, in the same month the Corporation of London granted a planning application for the demolition of Drapers Gardens and the redevelopment of new offices for the owner, the Royal Bank of Scotland. Foggo Associates Architects propose a scheme of similar taste to most of the new developments in the area: a three-slab block articulated by services cores, asymmetrical stepped profile and clear glazed appearance with use of timber, aluminium and natural stone. Smaller in height, the new building rises from five to sixteen storeys. As the design is still in process and discussion, the plans cannot yet be seen and no date has been decided for the demolition; however Drapers Gardens' days are numbered. Cecilia Jagu
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