In London’s satellite community‚ “White City“, there is, under construction, one of the largest and most attractive commercial malls ever to be conceived: with more than 270 stores, around 40 restaurants and 14 large cinemas as well as a wellness and fitness center with an unbeatable varied offering, all combined at one location. Between 2,500 and 4,000 new jobs will be created.

seele is responsible for the new skylight over the mall concourse which also extends to include two large glazed entry canopies. The one-of-a-kind glass roof encompasses approximately 13,650 square meters/ 147,000 square feet over an approximately 570 meters/1,870 feet long concourse with a typical width or span of 24 meters/78 feet. The horizontal bracing of the roof is achieved solely thru its wave like form and construction. Thanks to a new development in the fabrication of the node points (each with a different geometry), the erection of the complicated glass roof is simple and quick. The individual 6 legged, steel tube nodes are shop fabricated and site bolted to the steel members between them. The exact shape of each node is determined using a CAD-Macro program and then produced on a CNC milling machine.

Even the full-size mock up, that was erected in a yard next to sedak (seele’s glass lamination facility) made the headlines due to its highly developed technical design and the possibilities it gives to span large areas without a single column.

Client: Shepard Bush, London
Architects: Buchan Group International; Benoy London; Ian Ritchie Architects.