Lloyd's building

The Lloyd’s building stands in the City of London on the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall Street. It occupies the site of the former East India House, once the headquarters of the East India Company. The structure is a leading example of Bowellism architecture, where lifts, ducts and pipes run along the outside walls. Designed by Richard Rogers & Partners and completed in 1986, it replaced the 1928 building on the same corner. The earlier entrance at 12 Leadenhall Street was kept and now attaches to the new design. Its exposed services were innovative but have led to high maintenance costs over time. Historic England describes the building as one of the key structures of the modern era. In 2011 it became the youngest structure ever to receive Grade I listing, just twenty-five years after completion. The Pompidou Centre in Paris shares a similar approach, with services on the exterior to free internal space. The building’s three main towers and three service towers surround a central rectangular atrium. Its most notable feature is the Underwriting Room on the ground floor, a 60-metre-high space topped by a glass barrel-vaulted roof. Inside, the Underwriting Room holds the historic Lutine Bell and the loss book, which has recorded major claims by quill for three centuries. Galleries overlook the atrium and are connected by escalators through the centre. The higher floors are reached only by the exterior lifts or staircases, except the fourth floor which was later enclosed. The 11th floor contains the Adam Room, an 18th-century dining room designed by Robert Adam for the 2nd Earl of Shelburne. The building’s modular floors allow layouts to be changed as needs evolve.