Construction of US Embassy in London Wraps Up

Architecture firm Kieran Timberlake has just finished the construction of the US Embassy building at Nine Elms in London. The building, which lies next to River Thames, features a glittering cube surrounded by an artificial pond.

Photography by Richard Bryant

The American architectural firm won the contest to design the embassy’s building in 2010, whereas construction started three years later. The building will be inaugurated next month after the staff members have fully settled in.

The US Embassy building, which has a price tag of 750,000 dollars, comes as a replacement to the former headquarters which was designed by Eero Saarinen in Mayfair. The US government had to sell several assets in the British capital to be able to fund the new HQ.

Photography by Richard Bryant

The project features a 12-floor cube-shaped building with a shimmering transparent façade made of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) that depicts “openness, transparency, and legality”.

Kieran Timberlake is known to have a sustainable design approach, and this is manifested in the use of solar panels in the building. The façade, which is designed to prevent heat gain, changes color according to the time of day and the weather state.

Photography by Richard Bryant

The project, which is spread across an area of 48,128 sqm, also features a pond that will decrease the stormwater load on the sewer system of the British capital while constituting a basin for watering the garden surrounding the building.

The building is exteriorly surrounded by a grand colonnade at the lower storeys while interiorly, the undulating pathways embrace each floor. Every floor has its own landscaped garden which features different landscapes from American gardens.

Photography by Richard Bryant

Additional sustainable features of the building include a heat pump to abstract heat from the ground, providing the building with heat in winter. Also, there are power/heat generators along with controllable aeration systems.