Project Spotlight January 15, 2024

This London workplace supports a culture of choice and responsibility

The EBRD’s new Canary Wharf Headquarters is a paragon of green design.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Project

London, United Kingdom

Location

Perkins&Will

Founded in 1991 to aid nations making the transition to market economies, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) spent nearly 30 years in the same building. The new headquarters reflects its vision of sustainability, well-being, and social responsibility while supporting a culture of choice, collaboration, and innovation.

The EBRD’s new workplace, completed in 2022, promotes health and wellness through biophilic design. The design team aimed for a net-zero carbon fit-out by sourcing environmentally friendly materials, many of which were designed for disassembly and reuse. The result is an exemplar of sustainability that is simultaneously a warm, inviting space where everyone feels welcome and inspired.

This staircase connects three client-facing floors, including the auditorium and board room. Paneled with oak millwork and spiraling up around a tree, it signals the project’s connection to nature.

The EBRD’s lobby is brilliantly daylit and features a custom designed seating area whose sinuous shape is reminiscent of the River Thames. Patterns from nature and references to geography are seen throughout the headquarters’ 13 floors, which are also home to nearly 3,000 plants and trees.

Light fixtures pick up the winding river form, as seen here on level 24, where community and human connection are fostered over food at the restaurant and café.

An art installation on level 14 resembles a bookcase. Upon closer inspection, it is a sculpture made of salvaged bricks. Brought over from the EBRD’s former office, the artwork, created by Isidoor Goddeeris in 1993, is a symbolic representation of knowledge.

Each space has its own unique identity and offers flexibility for different working styles and the various events that the EBRD hosts. For example, this seating area by the café on level 24 allows for solitary work or informal collaboration. (Photo Source: EBRD)

The design team imagined the top floor as a modern-day treehouse. As one of the key spaces that is constructed in modules that can be disassembled for reuse, it nurtures the environment as much as its human inhabitants.

This staircase connects three client-facing floors, including the auditorium and board room. Paneled with oak millwork and spiraling up around a tree, it signals the project’s connection to nature.

(Photo Source: EBRD)

This staircase connects three client-facing floors, including the auditorium and board room. Paneled with oak millwork and spiraling up around a tree, it signals the project’s connection to nature.

The EBRD’s lobby is brilliantly daylit and features a custom designed seating area whose sinuous shape is reminiscent of the River Thames. Patterns from nature and references to geography are seen throughout the headquarters’ 13 floors, which are also home to nearly 3,000 plants and trees.

(Photo Source: EBRD)

Light fixtures pick up the winding river form, as seen here on level 24, where community and human connection are fostered over food at the restaurant and café.

(Photo Source: EBRD)

Light fixtures pick up the winding river form, as seen here on level 24, where community and human connection are fostered over food at the restaurant and café.

An art installation on level 14 resembles a bookcase. Upon closer inspection, it is a sculpture made of salvaged bricks. Brought over from the EBRD’s former office, the artwork, created by Isidoor Goddeeris in 1993, is a symbolic representation of knowledge.

(Photo Source: EBRD)

Each space has its own unique identity and offers flexibility for different working styles and the various events that the EBRD hosts. For example, this seating area by the café on level 24 allows for solitary work or informal collaboration.

(Photo Source: EBRD)

The design team imagined the top floor as a modern-day treehouse. As one of the key spaces that is constructed in modules that can be disassembled for reuse, it nurtures the environment as much as its human inhabitants.

(Photo Source: EBRD)

Gail Meakin, director of projects & facilities management at EBRD, and Allan Beattie, EBRD project manager, reveal their favorite spaces:

“From a construction perspective, my favorite spaces would be the auditorium and the boardroom.”

Allan: “From a construction perspective, my favorite spaces would be the auditorium and the boardroom.”

Gail Meakin: “My favorite place in the building is the Level 24 restaurant with spectacular views over the Thames and across to the city of London.

“I also like the variety of spaces and on Level 16 to interact, meet, connect and socialize with colleagues.”

ebrd-workplace-sustainability-collaboration

Gail: “My favorite place in the building is the Level 24 restaurant…”

“The project strikes a balance between human-centric and planet-conscious design. We were able to reduce our environmental impact, but at the same time enhance people’s well-being.”

Gail Meakin, Director of Projects & Facilities Management, The EBRD

Learn more about the EBRD project >

Main Photo Source: EBRD