32 Case Study Creative Quarters

With buildings by Barozzi Veiga, 6a architects, and SelgasCano, among others, Greenwich Design District is an architectural playground.

Architects: 6a architects, Adam Khan Architects, Architecture 00, Barozzi Veiga, David Kohn Architects, Mole Architects, SelgasCano

Location: London

Developer: Knight Dragon

“When David Kohn first told me he was designing some workspaces for North Greenwich which would have giant nude figurative statues by Damien Hirst on the facade I thought he was joking,” said Phineas Harper, chief executive of Open City, a British charitable organization dedicated to making architecture and neighborhoods more accessible and equitable.

Open City moved into the Greenwich Design District when it launched in 2021. Back then some buildings in London’s first purpose-built creative quarter, realized on top of a former natural gas plant, were still under construction, and they’ve steadily been opening since. A master plan from Allies and Morrison protects views of the adjacent Richard Rogers–designed O2 Arena, capping building heights at four stories. Studio HNNA laid out the circulation, creating a network of mini streets and squares with an array of plots to be filled on the condensed site.

The Design District in this sense is a big architectural experiment—and one that attracted big names. The developer, Knight Dragon, invited eight architects to design two buildings each, with the caveat that all offices work entirely independently. Adam Khan Architects,

Architecture 00, Mole Architects, SelgasCano, 6a, Barozzi Veiga, HNNA, and David Kohn Architects all stepped up, with the latter making good on its promise of nude figurines. The latter’s two buildings, A4 and B4, are laced with playful references. Kohn used the glowing green of James Stirling’s Staatsgalerie for window framing and oversized brick pillars to support the base of A4, which is topped by a Hollywood-esque sign that reads DESIGN DISTRICT. Headless female nudes courtesy of Damien Hirst adorn A4’s corners. Six niches in B4 display works from local artists.