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Panorama St Paul’s
81 Newgate Street
Featured Project
Panorama St Paul’s transforms an outdated 1980s office block in the City of London into a high-performance, sustainable workplace with a renewed relationship to its historic context—and a new destination on a key site on London’s Cultural Mile.
Transformation Strategy
Rather than demolish an outdated, poorly-performing 1980s office building, Panorama St Paul’s pursues a deep retrofit and extension—reusing what works and adding what’s needed. Retaining about 70% of the existing structure, the redevelopment increases total floor area by 96% while cutting upfront embodied carbon in half compared to a demolition and rebuild.
Keep and Add
The transformation of 81 Newgate Street involved a surgical set of interventions derived from an analysis of both the existing structure and its potential future uses. The design is careful to remove only what is necessary while reworking the building to maximize floor space, optimize circulation, and free up views of St Paul's Cathedral from the surrounding streets.
Existing Building
As built, the concrete frame of the 1980s building was over-engineered, allowing it to support the additional load of the increased height.
Demolition as Preservation
Careful demolition of the south-west corner preserved its stones for reuse in the new façade while making room for the stepped massing that now frames views of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Infilling the Atrium
Infilling the original atrium’s inefficient footprint added new floor area and made room for new lift cores that improved circulation throughout the building.
Fewer Columns, More Floors
The design added four extra floors and replaced the original paired columns, which impeded space planning, with single columns, increasing the total floor area by 96%.
Reclaiming the Roof
Finally, the MEP moved from the top of the building to the basement and just inside of the north façade, allowing the roof to become an amenity for occupants.
Creating a New Contextual Landmark for the City of London
A reframed skyline and a shared material language connect the building to St Paul's Cathedral across the street. Stepped massing opens sightlines to the dome above while reused Portland Stone—the same Sir Christopher Wren selected for the cathedral centuries earlier—roots the design in its context.
Reframing St Paul's
London's discretionary planning policy protects St Paul's Cathedral through two overlapping instruments: the St Paul's Heights policy, which restricts building heights around the cathedral, and the London View Management Framework, which protects specific views of its dome. As built, 81 Newgate Street encroached on the Heights policy and blocked a key view from the north. The redevelopment resolves this by partially demolishing and rebuilding the south-west corner, whose stepped form also creates outdoor terraces for the office floors above.
Mining the Urban Quarry
As a part of our sustainability strategy, the KPF team recognized the value of the Portland stone and granite that make up the existing building and chose to view the old office as a quarry. The new façades are a completely rearranged assemblage of the stone from the original exterior combined with harmonious terra cotta to create a modern aesthetic that remains rooted in the building’s local context.
Existing Typical Bay
The design started with detailed documentation of the type and size of existing Portland stone and granite. KPF catalogued and reconfigured individual stones to minimize processing and resizing.
New Typical Bay
Specialist stonemasons Grants of Shoreditch demounted, stored, and cleaned the stone using minimal waste methods, then cast the stone into new façade panels. 97% of the stone on the finished building is reclaimed.
The Adaptable Workplace
The design transforms an underperforming 1980s office building into a flexible workplace built around wellbeing. Adaptable floor plates and a 96% increase in floor area allow the building to respond to future tenant demand, while new public and outdoor spaces give occupants room to socialize, rest, and work beyond a conventional desk setup.
Flexible, Varied Floorplates
Adaptable floor plates allow the building to respond to future tenant demand, from one large occupant to as many as 27 smaller companies with no shared mechanical infrastructure.
Rooftop as Amenity
With 24 outdoor terraces and 2,500 square meters of new planted space, the redesigned roof ensures that every user has year-round access to greenery and panoramic views of the City. Integrated photovoltaics and rainwater attenuation reduce the building’s environmental impact.
Integrating Public Life
A first-floor lobby lifts the office above, opening the ground level to a new public route that runs east to west through the building, featuring a digital art wall curated by the Barbican Art Gallery. Together, the lobby and route support the City’s Culture Mile ambition for a welcoming, 24/7 neighborhood.
Project Details
Panorama St Paul’s reuses 97% of a 1980s office block’s Portland stone façade while adding 96% more floor area and 24 outdoor terraces carved into a stepped corner facing St Paul’s Cathedral.
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