Fletcher Priest Architects creates "pioneering" materials passport for its London office

London studio Fletcher Priest Architects has developed a materials passport that documents the different components of Edenica – a recently completed office building in the City of London, designed by the studio to house its own headquarters.

Created for local developer Yard Nine and real estate firm BauMont Real Estate Capital, the 12-storey tower is "the first building in the City of London to implement material passporting", the studio claims.

According to Fletcher Priest Architects, Edenica is also the first in the world to implement a "standardised approach" to this kind of digital tool, in which details of a building's components and their lifespans are recorded to facilitate deconstruction and material reuse at the end of life.

This involved working with engineering consultant Waterman to document elements of Edenica totalling 80 per cent of its total mass, in a bid to make it easier to replace and recycle these parts throughout the building's life.

"To have worked on this pioneering piece of architecture in the City of London, embedding material passports into the design and enabling future circularity, is quite an honour," said Fletcher Priest Architects managing partner Ed Williams.

Later this year, Fletcher Priest Architects is set to move its office to the ground, mezzanine and first floors of the building, located at 100 Fetter Lane.

The mixed-use tower also includes a cafe and pub on the ground floor, outdoor terraces connected to offices on six floors, and a garden that adds two pedestrian paths through the site.

According to Fletcher Priest Architects, Edenica features a low-carbon design that surpasses benchmarks set by the Greater London Authority and the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard.

"Sustainability is central to the design, ensuring the building is not only efficient in operation but also constructed with materials and components that can be reused in the future," said the studio's senior associate Mark Sutton.

Intending to match the neighbouring buildings, most of the tower's street-facing facades were wrapped in windows and bands of red concrete, while facades facing the garden have grey-toned surfaces and a stepped roofline.

To mark the section of the building where the pub is located, Fletcher Priest Architects covered the facade in glossy blue faience bricks, some of which were decorated with relief motifs referencing the history of the site.

The main lobby was designed to be warm and inviting with surfaces lined in timber and ceramic batons.

"The importance of wellbeing is front and centre of our design process," said Fletcher Priest Architects partner Irene Georgakis.

"On this project, we have focused on material selection that not only speaks to the sustainability credentials, but through the warmth of natural, organic and hand-crafted materials to allow the user to experience this comfortable oasis within the amenity spaces that speaks to the pocket park on the perimeter."

Other office buildings designed for sustainability include the mass-timber Walmart headquarters in Arkansas and a terracotta-clad timber building situated in the Olympic Village in Paris.

The photography is by Dirk Lindner.

Project credits:

Architect: Fletcher Priest Architects
Client: YardNine and BauMont Real Estate Capital
Landscape architect: Hyland Edgar Driver
Structural engineer: Waterman
Services engineer: Waterman
Fire engineer: Marshall Fire
Acoustic consultant: Waterman
Facade engineer: Infinity Facade Consultants
Quantity surveyor: Arcadis
Planning consultant: DP9
Project manager: Third London Wall
Contractor: Mace

The post Fletcher Priest Architects creates "pioneering" materials passport for its London office appeared first on Dezeen.