Buckingham Green has given us a rare chance to remodel a piece of quintessential London with a fascinating mix of buildings and uses around new spaces that connect to the intricate network of streets around St James’ Park. The scheme consists of a refurbished tower alongside two new buildings, comprising offices, retail and 65 apartments. Buckingham Green sets new standards for public realm on this site, which is close to Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Thousands of people who walk between the underground station and their workplaces will pass attractive, high quality shops and restaurants which spill into sunlit spaces catching midday and evening sun. Previously the site was blighted by a dark alley lined with small shops and service vents, which did not do justice to the fine urban context of late Victorian ornamented brick buildings with mature trees. Our design replaces a tired podium to the 1970s tower and reflects the area’s character with richly articulated red brick and a new public thoroughfare ‘Buckingham Green’. The design beds the tower site more comfortably in its setting, with a fully glazed lobby, a reduced and rationalised core cased in fine marble and innovative black anodised windows which sit in the steel frame. The tower has four floors of offices with 12 floors of long term tenancy apartments above. The building will be 80% more energy efficient when complete.