Restaurant, Tower of London, UKTONY FRETTON ARCHITECTS

Restaurant, Tower of London, UK

A new restaurant within a UNESCO worldheritage site.

Client: Historic Royal PalacesSize: 600m²Value: UndisclosedStatus: CompleteKey Staff: Tony Fretton, Jim Mckinney, David Owen

Tony Fretton Architects were asked to design a restaurant inone of the worlds most historically significant locations at anintersection between the UNESCO world heritage site of theTower of London and Tower Bridge. The new building isbroken into four distinct parts arranged in a row; the archwayentrance bar within Tower Bridge, a low entrance buildingfrom the wharf, a tall dining room in the middle and a glasswalled terrace that provides covered outdoor dining.

The new four-part arrangement enters into a dialogue withthe adjacent Tower of London outer wall, itself an assemblyof towers and curtain walls of differing height and form. Therough sawn English sweet chestnut vertical cladding ischosen to blend closely with the hues and tones of theKentish Ragstone of the tower walls and bridge.