Offering 39,000 sq m of floorspace, the 15-storey Fen Court is one of the latest additions to the City of London’s skyline.
Commendation: Fen Court, London
Architect: Eric Parry Architects
Structural engineer: Arup
Steelwork contractor: William Hare
Main contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine
Client: Generali Real Estate
Featuring a distinctive crown-shaped design, Fen Court offers office space, a rooftop restaurant and London’s first publicly accessible roof garden.
The basement was designed to keep a high-street bank, occupying part of the site, in operation without disrupting services to customers.
The challenging build of the bank involved a top-down construction sequence for a small portion of the site, with plunge columns driven into the ground and a small area of the basement slab cast. This allowed construction of this smaller steel frame at the same time as the excavation of the three-level basement was taking place.
With excavation complete, and the two cores constructed, William Hare began a traditional bottom-up erection process of the main steel frame.
Produced by the BCSA and Steel for Life in association with Construction Manager
