Gardinia Offices
Gardinia Offices
The primary architectural expression of this international competition winning design is provided by an array of anodized aluminium fins suspended from tensile rods on all four facades of the building. The aluminium fins, or 'Reeds', are all oriented in the same direction. On the SW facade they act as a large scale brise soleil and rain screen, but appear more visually permeable on the SE facade. Early morning and winter sunlight is able to enter the building while high summer sun is excluded and so does not adversely alter the environmental conditions within the building.
‘A unique design that offered good simple spaces, intriguing views out, and an extraordinary quality of light.’
The RIBA's Jury Panel for the competition, which included Nick Johnson of Urban Splash and architects Ian Simpson and Nazar Sayigh
The 'Reeds' also appear as a thicket of material that gives the building a striking appearance that changes dramatically depending on the position of the viewer. The roundabout and the 3 dimensional nature of the cladding system combine to create animation as one moves towards the building obliquely along the approach roads. By turns the building appears solid and then transparent depending on the viewers position: it reveals the interior as one moves around it.
