BARCLAYS BANK

HEADQUARTERS, LONDON
TYPE-Commercial › Bank Office
Landscape + Planning › Private Garden 
Public Park

YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION-2004
SIZE-25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

Each atrium is six–stories high and is

surrounded on three sides by offices
that look down into the open space.

Five interior atria within this new building.

• The design intention for the atria is to create a unique environment

within each while allowing for various functions to occur.
• Each atrium is designed with three–dimensional installations
including hanging artificial materials and floor components of organic
plant materials. Each of these five spaces creates a unique address
for its six–story surroundings. They also provide choices for how and
where the building inhabitants want to work within the building.
 Entering the
ground-floor lobby
- light, clean and
with a
conspicuous
absence of heavy
decor - the visitor
immediately
senses that this is
a building with a
distinctive
personality.

For the sixth floor installation, artificial

bamboo rods hang from the ceiling at varying
angles, while below, a circular seating area is
delineated on the floor by bamboo plants.
This arrangement allows for vibrant views
from above and both privacy and an outdoor
view at the floor level.
On the twelfth
floor, oversized
artificial
philodendron and
Monstera
deliciosa leaves,
hang from the
ceiling, creating a
tropical, jungle–
like canopy.
Beneath these
leaves, actual
Monstera plants
sit in planters
alongside various
seating options.
 Each atrium is
different from
the next, yet
all exist as
informal
breakout
spaces,
lounges, and
gathering
points. At
night, the
spaces are lit
to allow the
collection of
The twenty–fourth floor contrasts the jungle with shapes and
large, colorful, hanging transparencies of deciduous images to
trees. This abstract deciduous forest is balanced by glow on the
potted deciduous trees on the floor below. The top interior and
atrium of the building takes on the form of a exterior of the
geometric indoor hedge garden with blue and green building
glass boxes suspended from the ceiling above.
.