New Court
Where a storied site begins a new chapter
New Court is the fourth iteration of Rothschild's London headquarters, all of them built on the mediaeval alley of St. Swithin's Lane. The first building in the country designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas, the new offices have the capacity to host all of the bank’s London employees in one place. What’s more, there are rooms for the Rothschild Archive, as well as a roof garden and pavilion offering panoramic City views.
Where we started
N M Rothschild & Sons had been headquartered on the same site for 200 years, but it was time for the next chapter. They needed a new home that would allow them to bring together all their London employees in one place and to meet the communication and technological demands of 21st-century investment banking.
What we did
A radical response to an historic area
The OMA design responded to the character of the Bank Conservation Area — both old and new. The building is a contemporary interpretation of a palazzo: a central cube with three adjoining annexes. It offers 136,000 sq ft of space through a ten-storey structure on the street line, with a further five-storey sky pavilion and roof garden. The Corporation of London’s Department of Planning and Transportation granted planning permission for the scheme in March 2007, recognising the contribution it made to the City of London's historic core. Carefully scaled and massed, New Court brings a radically contemporary element to the area’s building stock and urban character. While it reinforces the existing atmosphere of St Swithin’s Lane, it offers a fresh new setting for Wren’s St Stephen Walbrook church.
Illuminating inside and out
Our team designed and built 140,000 sq ft of high-quality office space, including an archive and research room for the Rothschild Archive. Meanwhile, a roof garden and sky pavilion offer sweeping views across the City of London.
A trusted team
The building was the first in the country designed by Rem Koolhaas, and was undertaken with a team of expert partners including Allies and Morrison, Lendlease, Arup, and Museum of London Archaeology.
What makes
this place great
The two open spaces of the courtyard of New Court and the churchyard of St Stephen Walbrook are now connected, creating a new experience of this area for all those who pass through. New Court won the Company of Chartered Architects’ New City Architecture Award for 2011 and RIBA’s Award for Excellence in 2012. It was also announced as the RIBA’s London Building of the Year 2012, and shortlisted for the 2012 Stirling Prize.
