ONE BLACKFRIARS

One of the tallest residential buildings in Europe, One Blackfriars is a 50-storey tower in the heart of London’s Southbank. Its unique form was inspired by a sculptural, asymmetrical vase by influential Finnish designer and sculptor Timo Sarpaneva, according to architect Ian Simpson of SimpsonHaugh & Partners.

Part of a mixed-use development that includes a podium with shops, restaurants and resident leisure facilities, and a 161-bed boutique hotel, the tower’s 274 apartments have sweeping views of the city and are designed to maximise reflection and light.

The glass façade has two distinct layers – a seamless outer glass façade envelops a subtly coloured interior building skin. The two façades are connected by wintergardens, accessible closed balconies. The curved outer façade is made up of 5,476 glass panels most of which were bent into shape on installation. In total, over 9,100 panes of glass were used to create the curved building with no two panels the same.

Inhabit provided Quality Assurance and Quality Control consulting to the main contractor.