7. Lloyds of London

Built in 1986 and located in the heart of the City of London’s historic financial centre, the Lloyds Building is one of London’s most recognisable pieces of high tech architecture. Designed by Richard Rogers and Partners (now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) was built as the headquarters of Lloyd’s of London – one of the world’s oldest and largest insurance firms. The distinguishing but radical aesthetics in which the building services are clipped-on externally to maximise space on the inside – rather like wearing a woolly jumper inside-out!

Rogers won the project through an international design competition and won over the likes of architects such as IM Pei and Norman Foster. The superstructure was constructed with a concrete frame with a steel cladding; the building consists of three main towers and three service towers around a central, rectangular space. Its core is the large Underwriting Room on the ground floor, which houses the Lutine Bell.

The underwriting room sits in the central atrium 60 meters high and overlooked by 14 floors of gallery floors and naturally lit with a vaulted barrel roof. The floors are accessed via a network of internal escalators and 12 externally fitted glass lifts.

Having been granted a Grade I listed status in 2011, the building currently stands as a protected heritage asset and at the time the youngest building to be awarded the position. Decades on, the Lloyds Building has withstood the test of time in both its form and function. It stands as a beacon for the last big style of the 20th century, the high tech movement and a towering influence for future high rises across the world.