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.

Contractor : Skanska

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.