St Giles is one of the latest projects by Renzo Piano’s studio that has a dry fixed ceramic façade. In this case, the architects resorted to unitized panels for its construction.
Despite using the latest façade technologies, St Giles does not show the wit present in IRCAM or in the Rue Meaux dwellings complex. Perhaps in St Giles Piano achieved what he aspired to create in the initial projects: closing the building with prefabricated dry fixed ceramic panels. However, with this advance, wit seems to have been replaced by technology and its associated cost. The Botin Foundation in Santander leads us to the same conclusion.
St Giles High St
London
WC2H 8AG
United Kingdom
Cristina Pardal
Except:
Ph2 general view: Michel Denancé
Ph4 detail of the cladding: Maurits Van der Staay RPBW
Ph8 building sequence: Molter Philippe RPBW