Title: | New Scotland Yard, London, UK |
Markets: | Public Realm |
Client: | Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) |
Services: | Landscape architecture |
Region: | United Kingdom |
Status: | 2015 |
Photography: | AHMM/Timothy Soar |
Gillespies has designed the public realm for New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police’s new headquarters located in a prominent position on the Victoria Embankment
Won in competition by architects AHMM, the new £60m headquarters has successfully re-modelled and extended the neo-classical Curtis Green Building into a contemporary setting for the Metropolitan Police that will showcase the work of the force and provide state-of-the-art office accommodation.
Gillespies – who were part of the original competition team – were briefed to develop proposals to open up the existing enclosed space to create a bold public face for the client.
Located to the north of AHMM’s elegant curved glass entrance pavilion, the landscaped civic space – home to the famous revolving Scotland Yard sign - is characterised by a striking natural stone ‘carpet’ that references the distinctive striped brickwork of Norman Shaw’s adjacent North building. The space provides an inviting and peaceful landscape that acts as a buffer between the public and private realms. The paving continues beneath the glass pavilion, extending the conceptual square to the south.