The Marq, 32 Duke Street, London SW1Y 6DF
The Marq, Duke’s Court Headline Facts:
157 brick faced, portland stone faced and gold gilded panels, covering 2,511 square meters.
Architect : Rolfe Judd and John McAslan & Partners
The Finer Details:
Duke’s Court is a mixed development of retail and office space on the corner of Duke Street and Jermyn Street in St James, London. Designed by John McAslan & Partners and Rolfe Judd Architects and delivered by Skanska, Duke’s Court features beautiful gold gilding on the corner façade panels and a brass frame around the windows, all adding a touch of glamour to this particular corner of London’s West End.
Techrete were appointed by Skanska to design, manufacture and install 157 panels in total. This included insulated Portland Stone faced panels, brick faced panels with factory fitted punch windows. The mixture of Portland stone, two variations of brown and white brick and a Belgian blue limestone plinth were all developed to create the overall effect of Duke’s Court’s façade.
The pre-formed unitised
punch window panels were in some cases, three windows wide and are stacked on
Portland stone mullions between the ground and first floor. The footprint of the building was so tight
that this system was essential for the project and allowed us to install from
inside of the building, thus avoiding scaffolding, which would have invaded
public pedestrian zones.
The panel
design combines both a stacked and steel corbel system restrained back to the
main steel frame. The factory insulated
panels, fire stop details and the factory installed windows system were all
coordinated via 3D modelling.
The
corner façade features specially commissioned artwork on the panels. The gold leaf inlay on the carved stone was to
resemble a ‘dropped thread’. Grooves
were cut into the Portland stone panels for the gilding of the gold leaf and
Techrete provided the drawings for these grooves.
The contemporary design coupled with the touch of classical glamour on the unusual corner façade and its location in such a prestigious area of London, have all been factors in contributing to the high-profile nature of this project for Techrete. The elegant Portland stone, the warm brick and the gold gilding all together demonstrate how a combination of finishes can create a striking, contemporary façade and this will stand to us in the future when architects are considering this element right at the beginning of a projects.
Duke’s
Court is one of the first buildings to achieve ‘BREEAM Outstanding’ for both
its façade and core.