UNStudio just completed construction on London’s Canaletto Tower, which functions as a cluster of vertical communities. In designing the structure, the architects applied an approach typically used for smaller private houses – and they incorporated materials that distinguish the tower from buildings in the nearby financial district.
Canaletto Tower’s massing and materials facilitate optimal shading, reduce heat gain and balance transparency with the need for privacy. Its sculptural façade introduces a level of variability and shows the clustering of different floors – which take the form of small communities that are visibly unique from other nearby towers.
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“The detailing and contrasting of the materialization of the façade and the balconies plays a key role in the identity of the building and is in fact borrowed from furniture design,” said Ben van Berkel, founder and principal of UNStudio. “This is an approach which we more typically apply to designs for smaller private houses, however following extensive research into the potential for extending durability and maintenance we were able to create unexpected material variations on a larger scale.”
The façade offers a variety of environmental benefits. Its articulation reduces down drafts and, in combination with canopy proposals at the base of the building, it provides an improved pedestrian microclimate.
The 31-story tower offers 190 individual living units, with shared amenities such as a swimming pool, health club, media room and resident’s club lounge with a terrace on the 24th floor.
Lead photo by Hufton+Crow Photography
