City Hall, London

Designed by Fosters and Partners architects, City Hall has become a landmark building in the London skyline located at More London on the South bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge. Housing the Mayor, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority (GLA) its distinctive glass globe shape was designed specifically to offer flexible working space and provide an ecologically sound building.

City Hall comprises a meeting chamber, committee rooms and public facilities and provides 185,000 sq ft of space on ten levels.

The building is so energy efficient it is able to run on a quarter of the energy normally consumed by a typical high specification office building - even the heat generated by computers and lights is recycled! The visitor centre, flexible exhibition and function space, and public viewing gallery are open to the members of the public.

Fast Facts

• The whole building is designed around a magnificent interior ramp from which people can symbolically walk above the debating chamber of their elected representatives.
  
• Although Councillors meet for debate in the chamber only monthly, when the public are not allowed on the ramp anyway!
  
• The building is 45 metres high, with 185,000 sq ft (gross) of floor space spread over 10 floors.
  
• The building has no front or back and is designed to minimise the surface area exposed to direct sunlight.
  
• The design incorporates as a number of features designed to make the building as green as possible.
  
• The building offers flexible office space that can be sub-divided into as many cellular offices as required or kept open-plan.