7 Newgate St – ‘The Newgate’, London – Projects

Redeveloping 7 Newgate Street transformed the uninviting street presence and dark office spaces of this early 2000s central London office building to create a bright, open frontage and facade, a new rooftop pavilion and high quality office facilities.

The project involved the complete refurbishment and redevelopment of the existing 8-storey building – including a single storey basement – as well as the construction of a new glazed roof pavilion with access to a communal, landscaped terrace providing unparalleled views of the local skyline from the rooftop.

‘The Newgate’ was designed to be low-carbon and energy efficient from the outset, and the results demonstrate the value of retrofit over new build. Elliott Wood’s structural and sustainability teams worked together to provide detailed carbon calculations for evaluating structural options. The estimated embodied carbon saving in the structure is approximately 5,800 tC02e, compared to the current industry average for commercial new build.

Set between St Paul’s Cathedral and The Old Bailey, the building’s new pavilion and landscaped terraces on the top floor offer unique views of several city landmarks. The lightweight hybrid timber and steel structure of the new rooftop pavilion was carefully detailed and engineered to reduce the amount of strengthening works required to the structure below to reduce the embodied carbon footprint of the refurbishment.

Through non-invasive structural investigations, we reduced the cost and complexity of the structural interventions required to redevelop 7 Newgate Street. Despite tight floor-to-floor levels, the team were able to provide a much improved servicing strategy and facilities within the existing structure, enabling an increase in fresh air across the floor plates in excess of BCO guidance with minimal intervention. Putting the existing structure, and its understanding, at the heart of the proposals from the beginning enabled a refurbishment project with minimal embodied carbon required for the structural works.

The refurbishment of 7 Newgate Street truly was top to bottom – from the development of the rooftop terrace to the provision of enhanced commuter facilities in the basement, such as extensive bicycle storage and high-quality changing facilities.