Located at heart of the City of London, the original Angel Court was the last tower of the ‘first generation’ of tall buildings in the Bank of England conservation area. We carried out extensive studies to examine new-build, re-build and refurbishment options for the 1970s structure before it was decided to replace all but the core and foundations of this 25-storey building, increasing the net area by 60 per cent. The new tower hovers above Angel Court, formerly a cut-through from Lothbury to Copthall Avenue, now improved to create 40% more public realm. With this additional space comes public seating, newly commissioned public artworks and a space flooded with light at the tower’s base, all of which give Angel Court a spacious entrance and generous street presence. The most noticeable aspect of the tower is its skin, which flows as a curved homogenous surface around the walls and roof of the original octagonal form. During the day its translucency gives it a distinctive, light presence. As daylight fades, interior lighting takes over bringing a transparency to the skin, while the glass covering the gridded frame remains opaque. These effects come from a double frit, a 1mm diameter ceramic dot baked onto the glass surface, which allows views from inside to out and offsets solar gain. Contrasting with the opalescent exterior of the tower’s ‘Sky Floors’ are the Carlow grey-blue limestone blocks of the six-storey ‘Garden Floors’ at the building’s base. Banks of escalators lead from the spacious ground floor lobby to the first floor reception. Here a generous central lobby is enlivened by a woodland diorama behind the reception desk. All occupants can access the 7th floor garden terrace that is part of the building’s 17,000ft² of private, landscaped, open space, spread over five levels. The projected environmental performance goes well beyond required standards, Angel Court being one of the first buildings in London to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’ 2014.