The Arc is a new mixed-use building in east London delivering new retail opportunities, office floorspace, 100 new homes, landscaped roof terraces and a new area of public realm onto City Road.
The building is inspired by early 19th century New York towers with three stages of tiered massing in response to the surrounding context heights and Conservation Areas. There is a consistent treatment of the facade materiality across the building with vertically expressed brick piers and a horizontal concrete banding wrapping the building. This treatment relates to the adjacent Victorian warehouse aesthetics and is accented by the use of glazed brickwork in the first two levels.
At ground level the main entrance is angled away from City Road and is set behind a two-storey colonnade, providing secure access for both the office and residential tenants. The office lobby design contrasts with the calm external appearance through the use of organic GRG elements developed by interior architects Massive Design. An area of affordable office space is proposed at ground level running through the building and linking Shepherdess Walk to Wellesley Terrace. Restaurants and cafes activate the street frontage around the site and the internal lobby space. Externally, retained elements of the former St Luke’s Parish Workhouse are integrated with a new public space and sculptural bench around the existing London plane tree.
Levels one to six comprise the office component of the scheme providing 145,000 square feet of office floorspace. Above the office, at Level 07, the building steps back to form a slender element which contains the residential accommodation. The set-back also generates a large landscaped roof terrace with accompanying residents lounge. All the residential areas are designed by the interior architects Bowler James Bridley.
