The atrium is the central feature of the new Minster Building. Photo: Hufton+Crow|||
With the post-modernist masterpiece at One Poultry having just reopened replete with a trendy WeWork outpost, Foster’s new Bloomberg HQ already hailed a landmark, and the creative types flooding in on account of spaces like The Ned, how could the City of London not change with the times? The Minster Building with its neo-gothic styling is the latest financial district behemoth to get a makeover.
The new entrance to a refurbished and relaunched TheMinsterBuilding. Photo: Ed Hill
Originally built in 1992 to designs by GMW Partnership, The Minster Building certainly looks striking in its pink marble neo-gothic facade and incidentally, it once housed Europe’s longest run of escalators. BuckleyGrayYeoman are behind the recent redevelopment, as commissioned by Greycoat Real Estate and Ivanhoe Cambridge, involved shifting the original entrance on the corner of Mincing Lane and Great Tower Street.
A new 30 metre-long boulevard leads directly to the reception. Gone are the massive escalators; the central feature of the new Minster Building is an eight-storey central atrium, around which the offices are arranged. There is a an outpost of Crussh juice bar around reception providing a breakout space for meetings or private work.
The Minster Building will feature a juice bar and breakout area in the ground floor. Photo: Hufton+Crow
The new atrium sets the tone and material palette for the rest of the development, with curved glazing, textured jesmonite panels, marble and bronze combining to create an opulent, airy and uplifting ambiance. A feature artwork designed by local artists Arcylicize will be suspended from a truss that once supported the tower of 16 escalators running the full height of the atrium. A second reception faces the central courtyard of Minster Court to the north of the building.
The new Minster Building brings to the market 250,000 sq ft of Grade A offices in the City of London’s Financial District. In addition, the building will provide up to 65,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space. The new space is geared to encourage a healthy work/life balance for all of its tenants, and will include a flexible office and a co-working space.
All the floorplates at The Minster Building feature dramatic City of London views. Photo: Hufton+Crow
The Minster Building has already attracted some cool new tenants that include The Third Space, which will open its first luxury health club in the square mile and Brewdog, whose space will feature a 10 hectolitre brewing facility. There will also be 250 cycle racks and lockers which have been created in the basement alongside state of the art gym-quality shower and changing facilities for runners and cyclists.
Matt Yeoman, Director of BuckleyGrayYeoman said: “The Minster Building has embraced the future as the City of London sees it – providing Grade A office space in a building that meets the highest standards of accommodation, amenity and comfort, with a focus on the wellbeing of the occupants. On the ground floor, an exciting mix of retail and leisure uses, including the building’s in-house juice bar, will add to the City’s 24 hour mix of entertainment and leisure choices, creating a new destination in the east of the financial core.”
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The neo-gothic Minster Building is the latest City of London landmark to get a revamp. Trading floors and giant escalators have made way to a vast atrium and prime real-estate.
