The Steward Building replaces an outdated seven-storey building in the Spitalfields regeneration area with a stack of retail and office spaces – a programmatic mix appropriate to the scale and character of the area. Taking advantage of its unique relationship to Bishops Square, the building is conceived as a modern palazzo, its north elevation opening up the recently-established public realm on the other side of Brushfield Street. Set between two very different streetscapes, the new building acts as a transition between the generosity of the square and the fine urban grain of the surrounding Artillery Passage Conservation Area. The heavy masonry frame expressed in the Petersen brick facades is visually reinforced by extruded aluminium channels. Integrated into the glazing system throughout, these channels aesthetically knit the external elements together.
