Bere Admin January 16th, 1997
By Susan Dawson
Architects’ Journal
16 January 1997
The glass walls of a
The Pizza Express restaurant is directly over London Wall, on the first-floor public walkway of Alban Gate, Terry Farrell’s 20 storey ‘air-rights’ office block which straddles the street. The distinctive blue neon logo of the restaurant chain looks down on traffic coming from both directions.
The restaurant is divided into two self-contained units facing each other on each side of the walkway. One was originally intended to be a bar and the other a restaurant, but the demand for tables at lunch-times forced both into restaurant mode. Generally only one stays open in the evenings, which are less busy.
The restaurants, designed by Cantos Architects, have elegant interiors with circular staircases leading to mezzanine dining decks looking out over London Wall. The practice commissioned bere:architects to design the facades, comprising revolving glass doors, stacked-glass columns and glass walls which face each other across the walkway. Continue Reading »