Bruker:Traelhaug/kladd

Centre Point
Adresse		101-103 New Oxford Street
Sted		Camden
Bygget		1963-67
Formål		leiligheter, butikker, restaurant
Høyde		117
Eier(e)		Almacantar, Frogmore
Etasjer		35
Arkitekt		Richard Seifert, George Marsh
Eier(e)		Almacantar, Frogmore

Centre Point er en skyskraper beliggende ved Tottenham Court Road i Camden i det sentrale London.

A hypnotic honeycomb. A beehive hairdo. An elegance worthy of a Wren steeple. London’s first Pop Art building. The design of Centre Point has attracted various descriptions over the years, but ‘anonymous’ isn’t one of them.

Historie

Planning permission was granted in August 1959, and design of the tower began in 1960. By 1962, the area belonged to developer Harry Hyams (b.1928). Hyams sold the land to London County Council and then leased back the building plot for Centre Point. The key people in the design team were architects Richard (Reubin) Seifert (1910-2001) and George Marsh, both of Richard Seifert & Partners, and consulting engineer Dr Wilem Frischmann.

A young property developer from the north of England named Harry Hyams had commissioned Seifert to design a high-rise, mixed-use complex - office tower, shops, showroom and apartments - at St Giles Circus, on the junction of Charing Cross Road and Oxford Street. This project, soon christened Centre Point, became the tallest building in London when it was completed in 1963. It was also one of the most daring, with large areas of glass cladding at the lower levels and a unique precast, concrete-framed, fin-shaped tower soaring up 36 storeys to the roof 116 metres above. The height was Seifert's negotiating achievement, a quid pro quo for Hyams having agreed to make over to the then London County Council - for use as a traffic roundabout - those parts of the site not required to support the buildings. In return, Hyams gained a 150-year lease at a fixed rent on the rest and, more importantly, Seifert was permitted to build to the maximum allowable floor area for the whole site, in this case some 20,000 square metres. Ingenious it may have been, but for various reasons unconnected with the design, Centre Point was not popular. It remained unlet for 15 years, and was, at various times, invaded by squatters and threatened with compulsory purchase by the local Camden council. The Confederation of British Industry, which finally took it over in 1979, was its first tenant.

It was built by the property speculator Harry Hyams in 1963–7 to the designs of Richard Seifert and Partners. Because of an economic downturn much of it remained empty for several years, with Hyams content to benefit from the escalation in its capital value while he paid no rates. The structure thus gained a reputation as a monument to the evils of capitalism and a hundred squatters occupied it in 1974. Commercial tenants were eventually found, including the Confederation of British Industry, but Centre Point never achieved its full potential as a London icon – partly because the area around the base of the tower was so badly laid out. At ground level, Centre Point became a place to avoid unless you had reason to be going inside.

When Centre Point was completed in 1966 the building remained empty for several years while Hyams sought a single high-quality tenant, refusing to consider multiple letting in the meantime.

It was made more notorious still for sitting empty until 1979 since its developer, Harry Hyams, refused to let the tower to multiple tenants. The government even stepped in and offered to buy it but was refused.

Hyams intended that the whole building be occupied by a single tenant. On completion, the building remained empty for many years. With property prices rising and most business tenancies taken for set periods of 10 or 15 years, Hyams could afford to keep it empty and wait for his single tenant at the asking price of £1,250,000; he was challenged to allow tenants to rent single floors but consistently refused.

På toppen av bygningen står det skrevet Centre Point med 3 meter høye neonbokstaver. Navnet på bygningen, som ble satt opp flere år etter at bygningen sto ferdig, skjedde etter ønske fra utvikler Harry Hyams.

Centre Point ble fredet i 1995.

2005-2011: Centre Point was a freehold multi-let investment purchased in 2005. We gained stakeholder support for a 180,000 sq ft extension for a mix of uses. After the successful completion of extensive refurbishments to approximately 65% of the office accommodation, it was rebranded as a landmark office obtaining 100% let status for the first time since it was built in the 1960s. Occupiers included major multinational businesses such as William Morris, MacBride plc, Aramco Saudi Arabia as well as the Confederation of British Industry. In addition, there were extensive meeting and conference facilities managed by Targetspace, a Targetfollow subsidiary, which created an environment for many businesses to flourish within the building. We also created a superb club, entertainment and catering facility on the top floor which is currently let to the Paramount Club. Targetfollow increased the annual rent roll from £4.4m to £6.4m. It was sold as an investment and development opportunity in 2011, achieving 48% above the initial purchase price.

I 2009 vant Centre Point prisen Mature Structure.

Ombygging til boliger

Developers Almacantar acquired Centre Point for £120 million in 2011 and soon announced that “the building is in need of major repair and refur­bishment to ensure that it can remain safe and open.” The company proposed to adapt the tower for resid­ential use, arguing that Centre Point was “designed for an era of typewriters and telephones, secretariat pools and filing” and could not be cost-​​effectively converted to meet modern business needs because of restrictions imposed by its grade II listing.

2011: Buying the tower was Almacantar's first big deal nearly two years ago when chief executive Mike Hussey purchased the Grade-II listed building from administrators of a subsidiary of property group Targetfollow for £120m.

September 2012: A previous version of this project was refused at development control committee in September 2012.

Mars 2013: The owner of London's infamous concrete tower, Centre Point, will relaunch £350m plans to transform the 1960s-built block into luxury flats within weeks. Developer Almacantar and partner Frogmore want to revamp the area with a new piazza at Centre Point's base next to the junction of New Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road. Almacantar says the building is too expensive to maintain as a commercial office. Converted into flats, the building will be far more lucrative.

On 9 and 11 March 2013, Almacantar held a public exhibition of its revised proposals to regenerate Centre Point Tower, Centre Point Link, Centre Point House and the Intrepid Fox.

The developers began consultation on a revised plan in March 2013 and Camden council’s planning committee granted permission for the project in July. Almacantar chief executive Mike Hussey was quoted as saying: “We intend to transform the way Londoners view and interact with Centre Point, while always staying true to its heritage. Our ambition is to ensure the scheme is re-​​established as a landmark destination that Londoners can be proud of.”

Juli 2013: Today marks a historic day for Centre Point and indeed London. Today, we’ve been granted permission to restore an icon. With the news that we have a positive planning decision from Camden Council, we are at the start of a journey that will make the building a true centre point of London and a new destination "hub" where visitors from around the globe arrive in the capital.

Conran and Partners have been appointed to revive Centre Point’s iconic tower, in collaboration with Almacantar and Rick Mather Architects. The new scheme includes the change of use from office to 82 high-end residential apartments which range from 80 sqm homes to a 600 sqm spectacular double-level penthouse apartment.

Rick Mather Architects are leading the team to refurbish the Grade II Listed Centre Point complex. The new proposals will look to transform the office building and public realm into a new residential use tower with retail, restaurants and a major public space at its base. The new public square will be formed by removing the road below. The existing office use within the tower is to be converted to housing by Conran and Partners.

Client: Almacantar. Design: Conran and Partners, Rick Mather. WT Partnership is providing cost consultancy services for the proposed redevelopment by Almacantar Limited of the grade 2 listed, 34 storey Centre Point Tower in Oxford Street, London. The scheme will provide circa 80 apartments, together with leisure facilities, new retail and parking. A new public realm scheme has been developed for the area by the London Borough of Camden, which encompasses the future Cross Rail station as well as Centre Point itself.

Tower Bridge under bygging, 1892

Se også

Liste over Londons høyeste byggverk

Eksterne lenker

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• The Guardian om Centre Point, oktober 2006