Centre Point Tower
In 2011 Conran and Partners were appointed by London developer Almacantar as architect and interior designer to revive Centre Point’s iconic tower, re-establishing its status as a thriving London Landmark. The neglected office tower has been converted for modern-day residential use, reconnecting the spirit of the 1960’s with the present day and linking the building’s expressive structure with the transformed internal spaces.
Once described by Eduardo Paolozzi as London’s first Pop Art building, Centre Point Tower is grade-II listed. The approach has therefore been to work with the spirit of the original design, but to reinvent it for the twenty first century. The ambition was to make a complex design, simple, as if it should have always been this way. Whilst the striking pre-cast concrete exo-skeleton has been carefully restored, the glazed envelope has been entirely replaced and upgraded to modern thermal and acoustic standards.
To prioritise people over vehicle access, the practice fundamentally changed the way the building meets the ground. The original car ramp is now enclosed to form a new ground floor and the external staircases have been restored and repositioned inside to create a cleaner relationship with the street without losing the spirit of the composition. The design utilises the generous floorplates to create apartments with generous daylight and, from the tenth floor upwards, spectacular uninterrupted panoramic views of London.
The interior design has been influenced by the substance and rhythm of the building’s elevations, using a dark palette across the central spaces, while a lighter palette helps to accentuate daylight in the habitable spaces around the perimeter. The new scheme includes 82 high-end residential apartments, with amenity spaces including a dramatic 30m swimming pool, gym, spa, resident’s club and cinema room. The practices’ appointment covered full services through all RIBA stages of work, and encompasses all elements of the project from structural changes, down to styling the prime sales apartment, and designing the bespoke ironmongery and the luggage for the sales team.
