Mercury, previously known as 124 Theobalds road, now named after the Roman god of commerce, will be benchmark for what a modern office structure should deliver. New roof terraces, a roof top pavilion and a sunken garden to the rear of the development  will create an oasis in this heavily trafficked part of mid-city. Inside the building a large internal atrium space will create a series of unique sunken communal spaces in the basement, which activate previously low-value space. Extending lightwells to increase the natural light in these areas and the provision of a ground floor café will create exceptional amenity, with a unique identity, for the building.

 

The original building was constructed by Sir Robert McAlpine in the 1950’s, using cutting edge pre-cast construction. This created a very lean structure, with little residual capacity for extension or alteration- which was the trend at a time when construction materials were scarce. In the 1990’s the building was significantly extended and altered, with the new structure delivered as thick, in situ slabs with high loading capacity. Working with these very different structures created multiple challenges and opportunities. By tying the two structures together and closing the movement joints we could justify the removal of significant areas of core wall, creating more open and usable space.

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​When looking at the lateral extension to the south we wanted to create flexibility to ensure that the building could respond to future changes in workspace and hopefully stay relevant for future generations. To do this we provided robust structure where it was needed, either to create the access requirements for fire escape routes or compartmentation between levels. Where there was opportunity and value we designed demountable structures. We knew that these would need to be demounted and potentially reinstalled whilst the building is in operation. To do this we not only needed to make them visibly different, and obviously adaptable, but also ensure that they can be handled manually and transported using the lifts.