1 Finsbury Avenue is a Grade II listed building constructed in the early 1980s by Arup Associates (Peter Foggo). As the first building in the Broadgate development it was significant in defining the speculative office typology in London.

The refurbishment makes a number of modest interventions including roof terraces and a permeable ground floor. Shifting the emphasis from single tenancy to mixed-use retail, leisure and flexible co-working office space targeting tech occupiers reinforce British Land’s vision for a vibrant masterplan and public realm. The ethos ‘Raw is More’ repositions the nature of office space within the city.

The project re-establishes the public route through 1 Finsbury Avenue, an important element in activating the ground floor and connecting this building with Finsbury Avenue Square and the Broadgate Campus. In the centre of the lower atrium an installation, designed in collaboration with artist Morag Myerscough, acts as a beacon of how this architecturally important and flexible office building has once again been reimagined. Inspired by the history of the site and the architectural form of the listed facade, the artwork’s patterns contrast with the external dark bronze anodized cladding and symmetry of the building, and provide the centrepiece of a new ‘garden square’ in the London tradition. The result is an exciting destination for the diverse and changing users of the area.