Located adjacent to the Grade II listed Victorian Town Hall, the development provides modern commercial accommodation over 13 storeys combined with a new ground-floor public access facility in the heart of the building. The scheme includes a dedicated conference centre, health suite, meeting room suite, union facilities, staff canteen and external amenity spaces.

We consulted across all council departments during the development phase of our design to gain an understanding of their specific requirements, combining their feedback with intelligent design to meet their emerging vision for new workplace strategies.

Bernard Weatherill House was part of the first phase of a pioneering public private urban regeneration partnership between Croydon Council and John Laing. This first phase of the partnership will act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the town centre, providing a strong sense of identity and presence within Croydon’s revitalised civic hub.

The stepped building form was derived in response to the scale of the town hall; complementing rather than dominating its neighbour and providing an opportunity to create external amenity space on the upper levels in the form of usable roof terraces.

We positioned the public entrance opposite the town hall, visible from both Queens Gardens and the High Street — a feature that has improved connectivity and enhanced the local area as a whole. The public are brought into the heart of the building, giving life to the base of the atrium and providing views into the council offices.

A crisp but limited palette of colours and materials provide a coherent theme both inside and out and form a clean, sophisticated environment for the council. Office floors are located around a central atrium, which rises to form an internal winter garden at the top and connects with the upper roof terraces. A fully glazed scenic lift shaft continues up through the atrium roof to serve the top storeys of the tower block providing views across the borough.

Designed with sustainability at its heart, Bernard Weatherill House has an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating. The multi-storey double-skin façade facilitates good interior daylight, an envelope efficient at reducing solar gains in summer and thermal insulation in winter whilst a central atrium provides daylight to the internal office areas and reduces the lighting demand.