The Broadway by Squire & Partners
Architecture Today
Squire & Partners completes 1 million square foot Art-Deco-inspired mixed-use development on former Metropolitan Police Headquarters site.
Squire & Partners has completed The Broadway, a 1 million sqft residential, workspace and retail development for developer Northacre. The Westminster site previously housed the Metropolitan Police Headquarters, a 1960s block which occupied the entire footprint, creating a solid defensive wall along Victoria Street. The new development divides the site into two podiums, each acting as a base for three buildings ranging from 14 to 19 storeys, a strategy that allows for a new route through the site linking Victoria Street with Broadway and Dacre Street.
This new public space – christened Orchard Place – creates a pedestrian route through the site and frames views of the Grade I-listed Art Deco building 55 Broadway by Charles Holden. The development’s geometric façades composed of diamond-shaped pre-cast concrete panels was inspired by 55 Broadway and the Art Deco Grade-I listed St James’ Park Station adjacent to the site.
A family of three design languages was developed in response to the urban context. Buildings three and five, which address the commercial buildings of Victoria Street to the south of the site, feature white pre-cast concrete with medium-toned bronze window frames and a honeycomb metal mesh installed within the glazing units. Buildings one and six employ a language of dark grey pre-cast concrete and dark bronze window frames. To the north, buildings two and four reference the Conservation Area beyond with sandstone-coloured pre-cast concrete and light bronze windows.