Central Saint Giles, Mixed-use complex in Camden, England
Central Saint Giles is a mixed-use development in the London Borough of Camden, combining offices, residential apartments, and ground-floor restaurants and shops. The complex is made up of two buildings arranged around a shared courtyard, rising to around 15 floors.
The complex was completed in 2010, replacing St Giles Court, a 1950s office block that had long been seen as a problem for the surrounding area. The redevelopment brought new life to a part of the neighborhood that had felt unwelcoming for decades.
The facade is covered in glazed tiles in orange, red, lime green, and yellow, giving the building an appearance that stands out from its surroundings. This was the first project that Italian architect Renzo Piano completed in the United Kingdom.
The central courtyard is open to the public and has seating, making it a convenient place to meet or take a break. The restaurants and shops on the ground floor are all reachable directly from the courtyard, so it is easy to move around the complex.
The facade uses around 134,000 individual glazed tiles, each fixed by hand during construction. This makes the outer skin of the building one of the most labor-intensive tile installations completed in London in recent decades.
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