33 King William Street, London EC4

33 King William Street is a new build office development for international property group HB Reavis and is situated on a prominent site in the City of London, at the northern approach to London Bridge. The building is HB Reavis’ first investment in the UK and is located at 33 King William Street, adjacent to Grade II* listed Fishmongers’ Hall and within view of the Monument.

JRA’s design draws directly on our Contextual Modernist approach, responding to the prominent island site in the heart of the City of London thriving business community. The new office building provides eleven floors of open plan office space and a double height main entrance on the primary thoroughfare of King William Street. At roof level, the building has an expansive roof garden with panoramic views of the City and the River Thames. The garden adds to the extensive green initiatives at 33 King William Street, resulting in a BREEAM Excellent rating.

The success of the development has been proven with US bank Wells Fargo acquiring the building as their London Headquarters.

The double height entrance hall addressing the primary thoroughfare of King William Street maximises the development’s street presence. Approaching 400m2, the space is double that of many office buildings in the City and provides a light filled reception and entrance hall to accommodate collaborative work zones, informal meeting spaces, café facilities, lounge areas, and exhibition space.

JRA increased the Net Internal Floor Area by 65% whilst reusing the existing foundations, creating long span, column free office space with 2.75m – 3m floor to ceiling heights. Floors are fully flexible and can be divided for multiple occupation.

Bespoke faience extrusions accentuate the cladding’s vertical proportions, showcasing the façade’s bold red to white transitionary colour scheme as it picks up on the palette and materiality of the surrounding buildings. Each glass panel, together with the faience tile extrusions, was pre-assembled offsite allowing efficient assembly using the modular kit of components in situ.

33 King William Street’s roof garden covers ¹/³ of an acre and provides stunning 360o views across London. JRA collaborated with Townshend to create an English country garden scheme, featuring 9,000 plants made up of over 55 native species. The flowing nature of the planted banks are accompanied by sculptural seating and a drinks bar, offering varying levels of seclusion and addressing each of the key views.

JRA incorporated a number of sustainable features at 33 King William Street, taking a cradle to grave approach to the project by specifying sustainably manufactured materials that at end of use can also be recycled. Reusing the existing foundation, including 160 concrete piles and the basement slab also contributed to the sustainability of the building in construction. In addition, a strategy to reduce water consumption was devised and implemented, and the City’s standard cycling provision has been exceeded, by incorporating 240 cycle spaces and end-of-trip facilities. At roof level, the terrace features 132m2 of high performance photovoltaics, FSC timber for all furniture and planting that creates a biodiverse environment to encourage bees and insects. Through these measures, the new building achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating.