THE STRAND

RAAD was approached by the owner of a block-sized Brutalist office building on the historic Strand, in central London, to craft a strategy for how it might actually be used.

Long considered an eyesore in such a prominent location, research uncovered that this building sat atop the remains of a former Ducal palace, which in turn was built atop the remnant of a Roman bath complex, itself, in fact, built atop the original banks of the Thames River and an even older Celtic settlement.

RAAD devised a solution: to simply slice diagonally through the entire strata of the site, effectively creating a means of linking the site’s entire history, while thus acknowledging the post-war Brutalist building as simply the most recent layer of this land’s story. The simple sectional move also created numerous public and circulation spaces, creating new opportunities for business and retail, as well as a means for Londoners to connect with their sometimes hidden past.