No 1 Poultry
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was designed by James Stirling
James Stirling (architect)
Sir James Frazer Stirling FRIBA was a British architect. He is considered to be among the most important and influential British architects of the second half of the 20th century...
for a site then owned by developer Peter Palumbo, and first assembled by Palumbo's father Rudolph in the 1960's. Originally intended to be the site of an office tower designed by Mies van der Rohe in the manner of the Seagram Building
Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson. Severud Associates were the structural engineering consultants. The building...
NYC, that scheme was aborted following one of the great architectural and planning show-downs of the 1970s. The present building was completed in 1997, five years after Stirling's death. It is a postmodern building, with use of bold, but perhaps unsubtle, forms and colours in a compact assembly. It is clad in pink and yellow limestone, fixed in stripes and blocks of colour whilst the interior atrium at the centre of the wedge-shaped site displays some of Stirling's characteristic acidulous colour play.
Like many of the best postmodern buildings the imagery is rich in references. For example, from the sharp apex of the site a keyhole
Keyhole
A keyhole is where a key is inserted to open a lock. It is more properly known as a keyway.Keyhole has the following meanings:* Gravitational keyhole is a region of an orbit where a small gravitational input could cause a small body to collide with the large body it is orbiting.* Keyhole surgery is...
shaped opening leads to a little-seen Scala Regia
Scala Regia
Scala Regia is a term referring to a number of majestic entrance staircases, including:* The Scala Regia of the Vatican, a flight of steps designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to connect the Vatican Palace to St...
with a ramped floor, gold-leafed terminus and ancient Egyptian aura takes visitors into the heart of the building. Intended as Palumbo's private entrance this space is today little used: Palumbo sold the development before its completion. The turret above is sometimes likened to a submarine conning tower while the glazed two sided clock is in concept and detail a direct quotation from the Fascist era main post office in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. Completed nearly two decades after the first designs were published its reception among architectural critics suffered from the fact that the heyday of postmodernism was already over. Amongst the readers of Time Out magazine, it was voted the fifth worst building in London. However, its powerful image means it is often photographed as a symbol of the new London. Its construction required the fiercely fought demolition of the nineteenth century neo-gothic listed building on the apex of the site, occupied by crown jewellers Mappin and Webb
Mappin and Webb
Mappin & Webb is a company originally founded in Sheffield, England. The company is a noted firm of Silversmiths and formerly cutlery manufactures with roots back to 1774 when Joseph Mappin founded the firm. The company is now a retail jeweller, and Royal Warrant holder.-Arundel & Mappin:The firm...
.
While construction was underway, a major archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
dig was undertaken by the Museum of London
Museum of London
The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged...
Archeological Service MOLAS
Museum of London Archaeology Service
Museum of London Archaeology is a Registered Archaeological Organisation with the Institute of Field Archaeologists and is a self-financing part of the Museum of London Group, providing a wide range of professional archaeological services to clients in London, SE England, the UK and...
(directed by Peter Rowsome). This excavation made several significant discoveries, including a wooden drain along the main Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
. Using dendrochronology
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree-rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year...
, this was dated to AD 47
47
Year 47 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Vitellius...
, suggesting this may be the date of the founding of Roman Londinium
Londinium
The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...
.
The Coq d'Argent restaurant is sited on the rooftop of No 1 Poultry and has a terrace and formal garden for drinkers and diners with panoramic views. The building itself is occupied by one of the world's largest asset managers, Aviva Investors.