At 6 Bevis Marks we turned the complexities of a city centre site to the advantage of users, owners and members of the public. In a part of the City that is rapidly increasing in density, the design improves the ground level making a courtyard out of a former loading bay. A pedestrian bridge was created over the ramp to a service tunnel and a walkway was re-opened to provide a short cut across the site to the plaza of 30 St Mary Axe. The pavement alongside 6 Bevis Marks was reinstated, which the previous building over-sailed and partly blocked with a colonnade. Accommodation was doubled and a 16 storey building created on the existing foundations of the previous 8 storey building. Stepping in, the building provides several roof gardens, giving its higher neighbours a green view to look down on. A lattice frame covers the upper terrace, shading a glass pavilion and giving it a distinctive top to proclaim its identity. Meanwhile the façades’ use of cast glazed cladding panels echoes the coloured ceramics of HP Berlage’s remarkable century old Holland House immediately opposite, ensuring this fine building is not lost within a giant new development. Bevis Marks is an example of our ability to align the complexities of urban development to create more and better accommodation and a generous public realm. By recycling half the mass of the previous building and reducing risk, Bevis Marks achieves a high sustainability rating.