Introduction
For my project i decided to chose building ................
The building is designed for the world's biggest insurance firm, the Lloyd's building rises in the midst of the financial heart of Britain at One Lime Street in the City of London. It was designed by architect Richard Rogers and built between 1978 and 1986. Bovis were the management contractor for the scheme. The building is 88 metres long, with 14 floors. Above it stand the construction cranes that have been kept in place as decoration pushing the height to 95.10 metre. It has an area of 55,000 m. Modular in plan, each floor can be altered with the addition or removal of partitions and walls. It costed an amount of 75 million to construct the whole building. 33,510 cubic metres of concrete were used in the building's construction, as were 12,000 square metres of glass, 30,000 square metres of stainless steel cladding, 5,000 square metres of anodised aluminium frame and 2,000 square metres of painted steel. Incorporated into the building are 1,400 kilometres of window gasket seals and 80 kilometres of ducts and pipes. The total possible underwriting area is 19,000 square metres. The Lloyd's building with its rectangular main body rises on a trapezoidal lot: the empty space between the margins of the lot and the central plan of the building is filled by six utility towers housing lifts, stairways, technological plants and bathrooms. Each block is accessible from the outside. The highest tower has twelve storeys, where the adjacent buildings are taller, while the lowest tower, neighbouring lower constructions, has six storeys. The ground floor is occupied by public areas: a restaurant, caf, shops, library, etc. The entrance affords access to six of the blocks. The building is vertically connected by a dozen elevators made entirely out of glass, affording a panoramic view out over the city. The structure was designed to permit vertical expansion; the body of the main building and the towers around the perimeter are made of reinforced concrete. The central part of the building has pillars arranged in a 10.80x18 m grid and is enclosed by an
independent curtain covering system consisting of three layers of special glass with a ventilated space between them. The structure of the towers consists of pillars, beams and floor slabs, all of which are prefabricated; it is covered with fireproof stainless steel sandwich panels. The building will require ongoing maintenance, as it is made of technological materials which require replacement as they become obsolete. The building's strong technological component makes it one of Britain's high tech monuments, even though a closer look at the building reveals that the central barrel vault is clearly a classical reference. The Lloyds Building was commissioned to Richard Rogers and Partners in 1979 and was completed in 1985. The original Lloyds buildings, completed in 1928, were demolished to make way for this new building. Richard Rogers has been one of the leading English architects for many years and has a very distinctive and commanding style. The building is primarily made of steel and glass. In contrast to the usual steel and glass towers of the 20th. Century though that seem pre-occupied with how the building looks from the outside, this building is predominantly concerned with its inside and its role of being a fully functioning working environment. Instead of floors of anonymous corridors, closed doors and travel between floors being by enclosed lifts, this building's inside has open levels, glass partitions and open escalators. The whole inside of the building buzzes with activity - a living, breathing, functioning, working business environment. To optimise the internal functioning of the building, the auxiliary systems are moved outside enabling easier access and maintenance and avoiding the loss of space they would cause if inside. In moving these outside Rogers emphasises their role; rather than hiding air conditioning ducting within the building's infrastructure they are on bold display reemphasising the building's pre-eminent functionality and fully expressing its industrial and business-like role.
