The pioneering transformation project has been shortlisted in the Retrofit Revisited category, which celebrates proven long-life projects.
KPF’s design for Southbank Tower, completed in 2016, suggests solutions to questions that are at the forefront of the contemporary architectural debate including, how to reuse obsolete or underoccupied buildings. The development transformed an outdated, single-use office building into a world-class, mixed-use development, reconfiguring office floorplates for residential use and enhancing the public realm. The redesign incorporates large-scale alterations, such as adding 11 storeys to the tower and creating a new route through the heart of the scheme, doubling the building’s retail frontage and providing valuable new public areas along the riverfront.
KPF has an extensive portfolio of transformation projects in London, including Unilever Headquarters, a Grade-II Listed building transformed into contemporary workplace, Floral Court, an assemblage of contemporary and historic buildings designed to define a new lifestyle, retail, and dining concept unique to London, and Panorama St Paul’s, the transformation of an outdated mono-use office into a leading contemporary workplace in the City of London.
The AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards celebrate the architectural expertise and ingenuity of physical and environmental adaptions to buildings, and the reuse of building materials and structures in response to the climate emergency and changing requirements of use. Southbank Tower will be presented at Retrofit Live this September. Find out more and see the full list of finalists here.