Reimagining a 1980s Office Space

Sat upon the bridgehead of Southwark Bridge, just fifty yards from Shakespeare’s Globe and occupying a prominent position on the Thames Path, One Southwark Bridge is a comprehensive, redeveloped and extended office space in Central, London, U.K. This striking building is now all electric due to its comprehensive refurbishment. This site was formerly the headquarters of the Financial Times, the British daily business broadsheet. The Financial Times was based here for thirty years, in a building originally constructed in 1989. In 2019 the organization moved across the river to its former home at Bracken House, near St Paul’s Cathedral, making way for a comprehensive building refurbishment.

Comprehensive Refurbishment

WPP, a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology and commerce holding company, approached HDR for a full Cat B fit out refurbishment in 2019. 

HDR was engaged from pre–planning refurbishment of shell and core, through to Cat B fit out. As part of the fit out, HDR designed and delivered a holistic building engineering solution, comprising an array of services, including mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP), sustainability and resiliency, advanced building design, vertical transportation, lighting design, integrated communications technology and security, and control system engineering. 

HDR’s MEP engineering team was also appointed to provide RIBA Stage 4 works by leading U.K. construction contractor Structure Tone. Subsequently, HDR’s commissioning team was brought onboard by Structure Tone to provide services for One Southwark Bridge.

We had previously worked on two of WPP’s London campuses, delivering building engineering services at the iconic Sea Containers House and commissioning engineering at Rose Court, a modern events space and office building opposite One Southwark Bridge.

One of the Borough’s Most Sustainable Commercial Buildings

As is the norm, the refurbishment required planning permission, thus, an application was submitted to Southwark Council. The building’s proximity to the river also led to it being referred to the Greater London Authority. In 2019, Southwark Council declared a climate emergency and set 2030 as the target date to become a carbon neutral London Borough, based on the stark warning issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018. One Southwark Bridge Road is one of the first buildings to be delivered in alignment with this policy and the sustainability ambitions of the local authority. The building was also designed and delivered to adhere to Southwark Council’s Policy 31, mandating that developments which deliver over 500 square metres of employment floorspace, provide a minimum of 10% of this as affordable workspace for at least thirty years. Having utilized massing models, a 50% increase of net lettable area has been achieved through the extension of the building envelope of the existing levels, while also adding a new floor.

HDR’s sustainability and resiliency engineers have successfully achieved a BREEAM Outstanding rating, awarded to fewer than 1% of refurbishment projects, while achieving embodied carbon levels for construction of 357 kilogram carbon dioxide per meter squared. HDR has delivered an attractive exposed services design at One Southwark Bridge, with fan coil units discreetly hidden. The design had to be mindfully navigated around existing infrastructure beneath the ground while delivering the work. The sustainability and resilience measures have also prepared the building to connect to future district heating networks, supporting broader, collaborative efforts to decarbonize the built environment.

The sustainability accolades are also testament to the adoption and implementation of enhanced biodiversity, recycled building materials, new air source heat pumps, 300 square meters of roof photovoltaic panels, extensive metering, low–energy light emitting diode lighting with intelligent controls, efficient elevators, alongside smart heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Breathing New Life into the Façade

To transform the façade of the old Financial Times building, the external fabric had to be replaced. A modern double-glazed curtain wall system was installed, alongside a striking decorative perforated metal fin detailed design around the structure’s exterior, providing solar shading. HDR’s advanced building design team used in–house software to run parametric studies to determine the dimensions and perforations of the metal fins, which are used to block heat and ultraviolet rays from the sun, while allowing natural daylight to illuminate the office space. 

In various locations the fins are strategically removed, creating “picture windows”, capturing framed views and flooding the interior with light. The façade is crowned by a striking blue sawtooth roof, taking inspiration from a historic printworks onsite, while discreetly concealing the plant on the roof from street level.

Public realm works have reshaped the building’s interface with the South Bank, improving permeability, safety and activation at street level, including two new pathways that lead down to the River Thames, featuring lighting design that has made the space safer, more accessible and inviting.

Secure and Resilient Design

HDR was requested to provide technical electronic support to WPP’s security teams with respect to the closed–circuit television system (CCTV), evaluating and reporting on the possible impact to the client’s internal CCTV coverage scheme. This was based on client’s decision to change the manufacturer of camera systems during the construction phase. In light of this, HDR undertook research and due-diligence processes on the new proposed CCTV system to identify any potential changes in camera functionality that could adversely impact current performance levels.

Serving as ICT structured cabling designer for One Southwark Bridge, HDR created a system design based on a resilient and flexible distribution model comprising optical fibre backbone and horizontal Cat6a copper cabling. This design provides a low–level flexible data outlet infrastructure, enabling the client to restructure desk and meeting room arrangements, while also having the ability to add day–2 sensors, WiFi, CCTV and audio–visual screens without needing to add any additional structured cabling. 

At the time of writing, the project has been nominated for two categories, by the British Council for Offices Awards 2026. The first is “Corporate Workplace”, open to a building commissioned by owner–occupiers or a joint venture between a developer and an occupier; comprising either a refurbishment or a newbuild, or a combination of the two. The other award category is “Reuse and Recycling”, which recognizes projects that prioritize the reuse of existing structures over new builds, with previous winners focusing on adaptive reuse and circular economy principles.

Jim Mulvihill, Divisional Director at HDR said:

“One Southwark Bridge is the epitome of a truly collaborative effort. We have successfully delivered a true all-electric office space as part of a full refurbishment, all within a building that’s larger than the original structure, while concurrently achieving a much-improved sustainability rating. This project is also one of the first buildings in the London Borough of Southwark that has achieved a target of 40% less carbon emissions, while also obtaining 95% structural reuse. I can say with confidence that the entire project team’s dedication and performance has been exceptional”.

One Southwark Bridge is complementary with WPP’s other two campus buildings in London, at both Rose Court and Sea Containers House. These buildings serve as WPP’s vision to consolidate 40 offices in the British capital, into three modern, functional, striking and sustainable campuses that champion integrated services, delivered by HDR, together with its industry partners, providing resiliency and flexibility, as illustrated by One Southwark Bridge.