Materials

View from an inside corner of the
 building showing St. Paul's behind

The Information centre is situated on a small grassy area known as Carter Lane Garden or Information Centre Garden^[1]. In a broader context, as mentioned before, it neighbours the stone monolith of St. Paul's Cathedral as well as two modern red brick buildings and some others with stone façades and large glass windows. St. Paul's is constructed from a light grey stone named after the Isle of Portland where it is quarried, and its dome is capped by a lead shell, which together make up the majority of its exterior materials^[2]. In addition to the centre's architectural surroundings the adjacent busy road is to be considered due to the soot it produces.

The green of the surrounding folliage
can be seen reflected in the metal facade

As almost the entire façade and the roof are covered with stainless steel panels, it instantly strikes us as the dominant material. This steel has an interesting matte surface which softly reflects colours from its surroundings, acting like a chameleon. Whilst the angular panels cut precisely out from the organic forms of the garden, the subtle reflectivity of its surface absorbs their green, softening the transition of colour. Meanwhile a passing bus will momentarily give the building a warm red glow and the Glass front follows this by reflecting its image. Walking around the building we notice that people have left marks on the surface such as hand or shoe prints. It would seem that people have attempted to climb on the building, but the stainless steel resists easily and from anything less than a very close distance looks immaculate. This gives it a particularly solid feel.

The glass frontage repeatedly
 reflects its surroundings

The glass mentioned earlier covers the entire front. It forms a faint boundary between the interior and exterior and through the angels of the glass walls extraordinary mirror like reflections are created. Covered by yellow Trespa panels (a recycled timber product)^[3], the frame structure is skilfully hidden so that the glass just seems to spill from the roof like a waterfall and in places it's difficult to notice the boundary at all, conserving the open shapes welcoming effect.  The roof continues passed this glass boundary  as do the yellow panels keep the feeling of shelter beyond the actual enclosed area and further blur the boundaries between 'in' and 'out'. This yellow symbolises sunshine^[4] and gives the interior a warm gloom, as does the bountiful natural light let in by the glass, allowing the building to maintain minimal artificial lighting^[5].

Walking through the subtle threshold and into the building we step across long granite tiles each laid horizontally in the direction of the openings, resembling a conveyor belt funnelling tourists  through the information centre and giving them direction. This black flooring contrasts against the  yellow panels which line the interior.

References

1 http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=COL015 31/10/2010

2 http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=121 31/10/2010

3 http://www.e-architect.co.uk/london/st_pauls_information_centre.htm 29/10/2010

4 Architectural Tour of “The City of London Information Centre” 2/11/2010

5 http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/st-pauls/ 29/10/2010
All images are our own.