Panorama is one of a cluster of eight office buildings set around Pancras Square, a new piazza between St Pancras and Kings Cross. The building forms part of Allies and Morrison’s masterplan for Kings Cross, for developer Argent. Panorama seeks to create a working environment that is intimately connected to its surroundings and, to the theatre that pedestrian activity, and shops and cafes will bring to the “outdoor room” that is Pancras Square.

In our experience offices are social spaces, they are untidy and evolving environments permanently in a state of flux. As a result Panorama’s facades and interiors are designed to be robust enough to endure the reality of use. Also, typically we find where people lack control over their environment they rely on technology for their comfort- so Panorama’s facades ensure good daylight, enable mixed mode natural ventilation, create possibilities for working and taking a break outdoors and forge strong connections with the public realm.

The office employs a central core to achieve the optimum internal environment (BREEAM) and a concrete frame using a 9m structural grid (1.5m planning grid). Façade design is the key to an energy efficient office building. Compared to a fully glazed office, Panorama’s facades- strata of cladding and bands of glazing- are more economic to construct, mitigate against avoidable solar gain or heat loss (reducing the load on the mechanical systems) and conceal all the paraphernalia below peoples’ desks when seen from outside.

Panorama is characterised by a ‘brim’, like that on a hat, framing and separating the retail and public realm from the office floors above. The underside is polished metal and fret cut with a pattern, the upper face is glazed to protect it from the weather. The ‘brim’ provides shelter from downdrafts, sun and rain, and ‘contains’ the cacophony of shopfronts and signage.