Panorama St Paul’s, designed by KPF, transforms an outdated 1980s office building in the City of London through a deep retrofit and extension while creating a larger, all-electric workplace with adaptable floor plates, planted outdoor spaces, and improved public connections.
The office and core achieved BREEAM Outstanding certification, while the project is targeting a NABERS 5-star rating. Construction also followed a zero-waste-to-landfill policy.
Retaining structure and reusing stone
Retaining much of the existing building is central to Panorama St Paul’s carbon strategy. Approximately 70 percent of the original structure was kept while the total floor area increased by 96 percent.
The existing façade contained Portland stone and granite that were retained as construction material, with the building treated as an ‘urban quarry’. KPF catalogued the type and dimensions of the stone to maximize reuse while minimizing processing and resizing. Specialist stonemasons Grants of Shoreditch demounted, stored, and cleaned the material before casting it into new façade panels.
As a result, 97 percent of the stone used on the completed building is reclaimed. It is combined with terracotta spandrels to form a new façade using material from the original envelope in a different arrangement.
A new envelope and stepped massing
The redevelopment reorganizes the existing massing, with the south-west corner partially demolished and rebuilt as a stepped volume that opens sightlines toward St Paul’s Cathedral and creates terraces for the office floors above. The redesigned building incorporates 24 outdoor terraces and 2,500 square meters of new planted space, extending access to greenery across the workplace.
A first-floor office lobby opens the ground level, creating a new east-west public route through the building. The route includes a digital art wall curated by the Barbican Art Gallery and connects the project with London’s Culture Mile.
All-electric operation and energy performance
Panorama St Paul’s is an all-electric building, eliminating on-site fossil-fuel combustion. Photovoltaics and air-source heat pumps form part of its operational energy strategy.
The project also prioritizes long-term operational performance through its target of a NABERS 5-star rating. As modeled, the building achieves a 59 percent improvement over the Part L 2013 baseline using SAP 10.2 factors.
Flexible floor plates for future tenants
The retrofit also addresses future adaptability. The original paired columns were replaced with single columns to improve space planning, while four additional floors were added as part of the redevelopment.
The resulting floor plates can accommodate different tenancy arrangements, from a single large occupant to as many as 27 smaller companies, without shared mechanical infrastructure between tenants. This allows occupancy patterns to change over time with less need for major spatial reconfiguration.
