10 Hills Place
10 Hills Place is a remodelling of a very typical, ordinary commercial building facing onto the south side of Oxford Street; London's busiest shopping area. Sitting on the corner of Oxford Street and Hills Place, the original 6-storey building is a simple Edwardian-styled affair, and behind it (in Hills Place) was an even plainer, featureless box. AL_A have refurbished the primary building and added three new floors of rentable office space onto the roof of the rear extension. Here four huge, 'eye'-shaped, sloping windows lean out over the pavement, looking skyward - pulling light down into the interior. This side elevation is clad in polished aluminium planks; reflecting the neighbouring buildings, and bouncing light down into the narrow side street. The ground floor, which also contains the entrance to the offices, is clad in glass and back-lit at night. The office interiors are (sadly) plain and not as ambitious as the exterior.
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