Centre Point London, Oxford St Building, Skyscraper Architecture Project Photos, Design News
Centre Point London Tower
Oxford Street Tower Building, WC1 design by R.Seifert & Partners, Architects, England
20 Apr 2016 – new photos loaded ; 27 Jun 2009
Centre Point London
Location: 101-103 New Oxford Street, Oxford St, north central London
Tower building under renewal:
New Tottenham Court Road Station just to the West:
Architect: Richard Seifert
photos © Nick Weall
Centre Point – tower + apartment block to east
Date: 1963-66
Design: R.Seifert & Partners
Centre Point photos © Adrian Welch jun 2007
Conceived 1958 by Harry Hyams, Seifert employed
Planning permission granted 1959
1st tenant 1975
This famous London tower building is a substantial concrete and glass office building in central London, occupying 101–103 New Oxford Street, WC1, close to St Giles Circus and almost directly above Tottenham Court Road tube station. The site was once occupied by a gallows. One of the first skyscrapers in London, it is now the city’s joint 27th tallest building.
Since 1995 it has been a grade II listed building. An aggressive use of the “flashy and international style of crystalline concrete” that Richard Seifert developed with his partner H.G. Marsh, the 380-ft tower stood empty for five years after its completion in 1967.
The tower was built as speculative office space by property tycoon Harry Hyams, who had leased the site at £18,500 a year for 150 years. Hyams and Seifert engaged in negotiations with the London County Council over the height of the building, which was much taller than would normally be allowed and was highly controversial; eventually he was allowed to build 32 floors in return for providing a new road junction between St Giles Circus, Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, which the LCC could not afford to build on its own. Hyams intended that the whole building be occupied by a single tenant.
The building was designed by Richard Seifert with engineers Pell Frischmann and was constructed by Wimpey Construction from 1963 to 1966 for £5.5m. It is 117 m (385 ft) high, has 34 floors and 27,180 m2 (292,563 sq ft) of floor space.
The precast segments were formed of fine concrete utilising crushed Portland Stone and were made by Portcrete Limited at Portland, Isle of Portland, Dorset. They were transported to London by lorry.
Source: wikipedia
Centre Point photos © Adrian Welch
Centre Point refurbishment
Date: 1992-93
Design: Allies & Morrison Architects
Centrepoint Tower architect : Richard Seifert
Location: 101-103 New Oxford Street, London, England, UK
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Centre Point London building photographs taken with Panasonic DMC-FX01 lumix camera; Leica lense: 2816×2112 pixels – original photos available upon request: info(at)e-architect.com
Building opposite Centre Point: Astoria, Charing Cross Road
photo © Adrian Welch
Comments / photos for the Centre Point Architecture – Oxford Street Skyscraper Building page welcome
Website: www.centrepointlondon.com
