The Energy of «Isengard»
One of the most spectacular residential buildings in recent years, raised a large press feedback and a significant public interest, was Strata SE 1. The new residential skyscraper in London located on New Kent Road, aptly nicknamed the “Isengard”, probably due to its similarity with the famous pointed tower-fortress from Tolkien’s novel, dominate the surroundings and make a strong visual accent of adjacent development. It has the appearance of a non-trivial - the building ends with three 9-meter wind turbines, “embedded” in a concave inclined top form of the roof.
Non-standard completion of 148- meter tower is stressed by the external cladding and almost cylindrically shaped facade, which, due to various trim colors and textures, creates the effect of its fragmentation. This ingenious building was designed by BFLS, engineering work performed by specialists from WSP Group (Structural, M & E Engineer, Acoustic Consultants and Fire Engineer), a developer of the project is the European branch of reputable Brookfield Construction. 43 storey residential tower designed to comprise various configurations apartments for more than 1,000 residents. Each floor of the affordable area comprises 10 flats (equally divided between one and two-bedroom flats), while the floors above the 10th floor contain a mixture of studios (40), onebedroom flats (149), two-bedroom flats (101) and three-bedroom flats (20) to a total of 310 units. The 39th floor features a “Sky Lobby” (a small corridor with a view over central London), while the living area is topped by a threebedroom duplex penthouse.
Only the open-market flats have access to carparking (in the basement of the building). The one-level basement of the building contains a secure car park and 437 bicycle storage places. The current tower was first proposed in 2005, construction began in 2007 and was completed in June 2010. The shape of the tower caused stormy debates in the press, and according to the Building Design magazine, it was even recognized “the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months”. However, the same year, the building won the prestigious 2010 Concrete Society Awards. In May 2011, the building won the ICE London Civil Engineering Awards 2011 for infrastructure and building projects. The tallest residential building in Central London, Strata SE1 is also the first significant development to be delivered as part of the regeneration of the Elephant & Castle.
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Materials provided by BFLS