Commercial Union Assurance Building

The Commercial Union Assurance Building, completed in 1968, was the first project by our Gartner brand in the city of London.

The building rose to a height of 118m, with 28 standard storeys and two installation storeys. The façade was mounted without a framework, from the top down. Testing was a key feature of the project – a full-scale model built across two floors was tested under extreme conditions in a pressurised chamber and with an aircraft engine.

Brand : Gartner

Architect : Gollins, Melvin, Ward & Partners

The project

The concept

The tower’s design was in the modernist international style, resembling an elongated cube. The original cladding (apart from the windows) was anodised aluminium and changed colour from dark grey to dark bronze, depending on the light.

What did we do?

We designed and engineered around 20,000 sqm of aluminium façade, anodised silicon grey, with a unit size of up to 2m x 10m and glazed with neoprene at the plant. We also provided fixed glazing with grey-tinted glass, and glazing from floor to ceiling with flush transition to the transom. The transom was designed as a smoke extraction flap, with invisible fittings and an automatic opening mechanism.