The new Empress State

1960's landmark building transformed with a revolving venue on the top floor offering panoramic views across London

The 30 storey 'Y' shaped building, next to Earl's Court, retains many of its features, including the three cores, in reconstituted stone, and the marble clad pillars in reception. Contemporary additions to the building include three additional floors in steel and glass and twenty-six-storey addition to the south elevation.

There is an open terrace at the 27th floor and a revolving venue on the top, at the 30th floor, with panoramic views across London. The new top floors, which are clad in floor to ceiling glass canted out from the base of the main building, provide a transparent appearance to the skyline.

The addition of a 26 storey by 5m deep steel frame structure on the south elevation increases the efficiency of the building by bringing the net office floor areas up to 15,000 ft sq of flexible space.

This new structure is clad in continuous aluminum louvers which provide solar shading to the fully glazed façade.

A new landscaped piazza at the ground level, bordered by a fitness club, childcare nursery, restaurant and wine bar, is linked to Lillie Road by a covered arcade and a small gatehouse building on the street frontage. A major sculpture by the artist Diana Edmunds has been commissioned for the piazza and is due to be installed at the end of August.

The entrance area at ground level provides a large open reception with coffee bar and seating for informal meetings, leading through to a restaurant, providing 2220 covers for the office users. The business club facilities on the 1st and 14th floors include private meeting rooms of different sizes.

The revolving venue on the 30th floor provides a space to view the panoramic skyline of London, it is designed for flexible uses ranging from formal functions to casual dining and meetings.

Land Securities Web site

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