Top Architectural Practices: Foster & Partners

Sir Norman Foster is arguably the closest anyone has ever come to achieving celebrity status in the world of modern architecture. Foster & Partners is a practice that was only founded in 1967 and has since been the lead architect on many world famous commissions with Sir Norman Foster himself being the spearhead of the PR campaign behind the firm. Foster gained a masters at the Yale School of Architecture before setting up an outfit called Team 4 with Richard Rogers, which quickly earned a reputation for high tech industrial design although by 1967, Team 4 dissolved and Foster went on to set up Foster Associates. The firm was kick started by the commission of The Willis Faber & Dumas building in Ipswich and today, many of the world's most famous buildings can be credited to the Foster portfolio. Similar to KPF, there are not many commissions in the world where Foster & Partners have not been considered for the design.

Completed in 2003, 30 St.Mary Axe, The Gherkin, is perhaps the most recognised work by Foster in London, being the first tall building in The City with ecological credentials using around half the power that a similar tower would typically use. London City Hall was a precursor to the Gherkin, sitting on the River Thames it's offset domes appearance might suggest it is related to The Gherkin, it's reduced surface area, simlar to the Gherkin, increasing it's energy efficiency.

In New York City, Foster's 597ft Hearst Tower was the voted the best skyscraper built in the world the year after the September 11th attacks on the city and was also the first new skyscraper to break ground after the event (click here for separate article on this tower). The Hearst Tower along with 200 Greenwich Street (click here for separate article on this tower), part of the redevelopment of the World Trade Center, both aimed to achieve the gold standard under the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Programme (LEED) and being involved in the World Trade Center project served to further cement Foster's position as one of the leading architects in the world today.

The Foster portfolio spans many different sectors and environments but outside of the realm of commercial office architecture, Foster & Partners design of the new Wembley Stadium in London reassured football fans across the world that no chances were being taken in turning the world's most famous football stadium into the best stadium in the world, at a record breaking cost of £798million ($1.26billion). For this money Foster & Partners delivered a stadium in which all 90,000 seats had more more leg room than there was in the royal box of the old stadium. For this, no one can deny Lord Foster the Knighthood he received from the Queen in 1990.

Hearst Tower, New York City, distinctive and sustainable

Statistics

• Constructed 2003-2006
• Height 597ft (182m)
• 46 Floors
• 80,000 sqm (861,100 sqft)
• Architect Foster & Partners

The Hearst Tower was the first tower to break ground in New York City after September 11th, 2001. It was also the first green skyscraper in the city shifting building technology in New York into a new era and became the city's first LEED Gold designated building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The building features a tank in the basement which stores rainwater collected from the roof which is used for the cooling system, plant irrigation and also in the water sculpture in the main lobby. It's diagrid triangular framed design even uses about 20% less steel than conventionally designed and constructed skyscrapers. Water is circulated under the flooring through polyethylene tubing for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.

The atrium of the Hearst Tower is befitting of a corporation whose publications include magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harpers Bazaar and Marie Claire and you could be forgiven for thinking the atrium was part of an elaborate art gallery. The escalators run through 'Icefall' which is a 3 storey water sculpture featuring thousands of glass panels which cools and humidifies the air in the lobby and is complemented by a 70 ft tall painting called 'Riverlines' by Richerd Long making the Hearst Tower a truely unique building for Hearst employees and visitors.

2 WTC, 200 Greenwich Street, New York City

Statistics

• Estimated completion 2014
• Height 1,350ft (411m)
• 79 floors
• 2,530,000 sqft (235,000 sqm)
• Architect Foster & Partners

It's easy to overlook how immense this building will be as it is the second tallest building being built at the new World Trade Center but will be the third tallest in New York City once complete. Foster & Partners have designed the building to take forward many of the features implemented in the Hearst Tower (see seperate article) and similarly aims to achieve the gold standard under the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Programme (LEED).

Built at the North East corner of memorial park, the building incorporates a slanted roof designed to address the memorial and which will cast no shadow on the memorial park on September 11th due to it's slant. The design is arranged around a central cruciform core, currently in the early stages of construction. The building is designed as four interconnecting shafts which are column free allowing for flexible office space allowing tenats to adapt floors to suit their specific needs.

Here is a reminder of how this magnificent building will look in it's new surroundings.

HSBC Tower, 8 Canada Square, London

Statistics

• Constructed 1999-2002
• Height 200m (656ft)
• 45 floors
• 102,190sqm (1,100,000sqft)
• Architect Foster & Partners

Sir Norman Foster designed HSBC's previous global headquarters at 1 Queen's Street, Hong Kong, therefore it was only right that he was chosen to design a building that would pull together all of HSBC's scattered sites around the City of London to create an iconic global headquarters in London's Docklands. HSBC's environmental principles fitted in with Foster & Partners experience and passion for designing buildings that champion energy efficient systems; the building features recyclable furniture and equipment.

HSBC became carbon neutral in 2005 and in 2008 the skyscraper became the tallest building in Europe to feature solar panels and the largest installation of photovoltaic panels on a corporate office in London, which are fixed to withstand wind speeds of up to 140mph. The panels will generate about 1,550,000 kilowatt hours of green energy over the buildings lease which is enough to power 20 average size UK homes every year. Simon Martin, Head of Group Corporate Sustainability, said about the installation,"This installation shows innovation and demonstrates that renewable technologies of this scale can be delivered successfully. If every headquarter building around the world invested in solar panels, it would significantly increase the transition towards a low carbon economy and we hope to become a catalyst for this."

The tower has also been good to the balance sheet for HSBC. In April 2007 it became the first building in the UK to be sold for more than £1bn when it was sold to Metrovacesa before taking ownership in December 2008 and posting a £250m gain from the agreement. In December 2009 it was then sold to South Korea's National Pension Service for £772m. The bank will be paying rent of £46m a year for the next 17 years having freed up capital.