Lambeth Civil Centre
Architect: Cartwright Pickard
Installer: Glass Solutions
Location: London, UK
Awards: 2019 Best New Build Office OAS Awards
The revitalization of the Lambeth Civic Centre in London features an 80-foot VS1 atrium facade with external facing mullions. The facade is the first use of SageGlass in the United Kingdom. SageGlass is an electrochromic “smart” glass that tints automatically and is used in lieu of blinds or shades, thus reducing energy consumption associated with air conditioning and ventilation. The SageGlass and VS1 combination contributed to the building’s BREEAM rating of “Excellent.”
VS1 was specified by the architect, Cartwright Pickard, for the 36,000 square-foot facade. Glass Solutions, the installer, wrote the following in their project profile:
No other system could accommodate the required design intent; VS1’s ability to carry large spans of glass made it the ideal choice for the atrium’s feature glazing, which is 25m high with only 1 midspan tie back. Its external- mullion-only configuration allowed FGS to create a large, unbroken internal expanse of glass, as well as allowing light-diffusing brackets to be hung externally to reduce structural load.
Internally, the atrium connects all six floors of the building—a design decision made to emphasize the Civic Centre’s commitment to transparency.
