Westlegate Tower in Norwich

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar

Westlegate Tower in Norwich

5th Studio

ARCHITECTS
5th Studio

MANUFACTURERS
Keim

QUANTITY SURVEYOR
Bremner Partnership

CLIENT
Fw Properties, Soho Estates

MAIN CONTRACTOR
Graham Construction

MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT
Bsd, Contact Electrical

LIGHTING CONSULTANT
George Sexton Associates

FORM OF CONTRACT AND/OR PROCUREMENT
Novated Design And Build

SELECTED SUBCONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS
Gfs, Warwick Engineering, The C.e.l. Group

PLANNING SUPERVISOR
Lanpro

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
Rossi Long Consulting

PROJECT ARCHITECT
Nathan Jones, John Cain

DESIGN TEAM
Ronan Watts, Lily Nicholls, Giles Smith, Mike Taylor

M&E CONSULTANT
Bsd, Contact Electrical

PHOTOGRAPHS
Timothy Soar

ANNUAL CO2 EMISSIONS
17.1 Kgco2/m2

COST
£5.8m

AREA
3530 M²

YEAR
2013

LOCATION
Norwich, United Kingdom

CATEGORY
City Planning, Mixed Use Architecture, Apartments

Text description provided by architect.

5th Studio has completed the redevelopment of Westlegate Tower, one of Norwich’s most high profile buildings, together with its surrounding environment, into a landmark mixed-use site within the historically sensitive context of Norwich’s medieval city centre.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar

The transformation of the 1960s tower block into 17 residential apartments involved the addition of three storeys to the previously squat, 11-storey tower - creating a new ‘crown’ for the building.

The new apartments each occupy a single floor plate and benefit from spectacular 360-degree views across the city.

The tower’s original promoters described it as “a pencil of light”: an optimistic symbol of the city’s modernity.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar

After some years in use as offices, the building fell into disuse during the construction of the adjacent Castle Mall, with the building’s final tenants moving out in 2005.

The vacant building caused much controversy within the city, with city planning policy calling for its demolition.

In 2012 the mothballed tower was purchased in a joint venture by Norwich-based FW Properties and Soho Estates.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar

After winning the project through invited completion, 5th Studio’s brief was to explore how the site might be creatively reimagined as a mixed- use city block.

Rather than demolish the tower, the practice proposed to make it more appropriate to its setting in Norwich - the ‘city of towers’ - and to deliver for the city planners the desired urban connectivity which the tower had obliterated.

The site spans from Westlegate to Timberhill, encompassing a diverse range of landscapes and buildings, including the tower itself, a listed 17th Century building (20 Westlegate) and surface car parking on a gap site on Timberhill.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar

All of which lie adjacent to the churchyard of the Grade I listed All Saints Church.

The new envelope deploys a series of patterns across its facades in order to provide an overall coherence and elegance to the tower, responding to its role as a city-scale landmark.

The cladding was designed within the tight budget constraints of standard curtain walling, but by using a variety of glass finishes, metal mesh and cover strips, a skin was developed that changes radically with light conditions and the aspect from which the tower is viewed.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar

The re-making of the tower has been supported by a renegotiation of the surrounding landscape, including the renovation of 20 Westlegate, the addition of a new build modern town house.

And the reinstatement of the lost Lion & Castle Yard as a public thoroughfare, reconnecting Westlegate and Timberhill, and re-establishing the historic grain of lanes, yards and passageways that characterise the city centre.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
© Timothy Soar


Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Section
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
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Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Floor Plan
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Floor Plan
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Floor Plan


Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Elevation
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Model


Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Ground Floor Plan
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Second Floor Plan
Westlegate Tower in Norwich
Site Plan