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Mariner’s Quarter James Cook and Marco Polo Buildings

Text description provided by DP Architects Pte Ltd

Situated at the heart of the Royal Docks, the Royal Wharf is positioned east of the major business district Canary  Wharf. The 15ha Royal Wharf  is conceptualised to be a spectacular residential, business and leisure destination with a panoramic view across the River Thames. The master plan, conceived by Glenn Howells Architects, will provide over 3,000 homes, a new school, shops, offices and riverside restaurants to an estimated 10,000 residents.

DP Architects recently saw the appointment of a new CEO (and the only female CEO within Singapore’s top 5 largest architectural firms), Ms Angelene Chan. As part of the firm’s international expansion strategy, in line with a global push for the firm’s 50^th anniversary next year, Ms Chan is spearheading the Mariner’s Quarter  James Cook and  Marco Polo  Buildings, a proposed  set of two  apartment towers to be developed by Oxley Holdings Limited and Ballymore on the last phase of their  vibrant Royal Wharf master plan in London. In the design competition, DP Architects triumphed over three other local UK architecture firms to clinch the project.

The Mariner’s Quarter is part of a spectacular residential, business and leisure destination, the Royal Wharf, with a panoramic view across the River Thames. (Image © DP Architects Pte Ltd).

The James Cook and Marco Polo Buildings are DP Architects’ first projects in London and supports the  Singapore  homegrown  firm’s  ambitious  expansion  strategy  overseas,  part  of  the  firm’s renaissance  before its  milestone 50th anniversary in 2017.  The vision  is driven by  its new Chief Executive Officer, Ms Angelene Chan, who successfully  secured  and continues to spearhead  this project  –  a symbol of DP’s  concerted push towards  global growth  and renewed emphasis on design together with  associate director, William Young, who heads DP Architects’ London office.  Ms Chan worked together with Ang Guo Zi, associate director at DP Architects, on the design concept.

The residences’ striking silhouette is created by the subtle tectonic shift of 3 building boxes, unifying the housing block into a single twisting urban entity. (Image © DP Architects Pte Ltd).

The  proposed  40.25m and  58.25m tall apartment towers  are  located on Plots  17 and  18 within Phase 3 of the Royal Wharf.  The Marco Polo  Building on Plot 18 is the final and tallest waterfront building anchoring the entire development’s corner, consisting of three vertically stacked building boxes. Its striking silhouette along the Thames waterfront is created by the subtle tectonic shift of these  three boxes, unifying the housing block into a single twisting urban entity.  To maintain the strong  master  planning  relationship  with  the  adjacent  Marco  Polo  Building,  the  James  Cook Building  utilises  a  similar  façade  treatment  while  reversing  its  colour  palette  for  subtle differentiation.

Inspired  by  the  varying  patterns  of  London’s  weather,  the  building’s  façade  and  character  is designed to modify with the seasons,  as the façade louvered  screens are movable.  Each unit has the ability to adjust the position of their sliding louvered panels to provide sun and wind shading capabilities depending on the weather  or season. This  gives  the building façade an organic and lively  feel  –  similar to the fluctuating seasons in nature.  The sliding panels,  combined  with the dynamic twist of the blocks, work together to create a high-impact flagship design.

Inspired by the patterns of London’s weather,the building’s facade was designed to modify with the seasons,with its movable facade louvered screens. (Image © DP Architects Pte Ltd).

DP Architects’ design respects the context of the master plan, while making a visually stunning design statement along the river. In reference to the other  waterfront structures, the contiguous apartment block is visually divided into three separate volumes, with each volume corresponding to the three different categories of building heights as viewed from the Thames.  The building’s aesthetic also pays close attention to the Royal Wharf’s family of rectilinear forms.

Capitalising on the river views, the top and lowest blocks are gently rotated on a central axis towards Canary Wharf, creating views  of the water  even for east-facing units located away from the water’s edge. The middle block, consisting of apartments on the eighth to the 13th storey, is then rotated in the opposite direction to provide views of the new pier. The middle block also leans towards the green plaza and overlooks the Thames Barrier and Thames Barrier Park.

The tallest waterfront building anchoring the corner of Mariner’s Quarter in Royal Wharf, the building will be a bold statement along the Thames waterfront. (Image © DP Architects Pte Ltd).

The apartment tower is slated to complete in 2019. DP  Architects  is  the  architect  of  many  high-rise  residential  developments  all  over  the  world, including the multiple-award winning The Trillium and Jardin in Singapore. DP Architects was also the architect for the award-winning Dolphin Plaza in Hanoi  –  driven by lead designer Angelene Chan – and the architecturally impactful OUE Twin Peaks in Singapore, Sky Gardens in Bangalore, Palm Springs in Beijing and The Peak in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The sliding louvred screens give the building facade an organic and lively feel similar to the fluctuating seasons in nature. (Image © DP Architects Pte Ltd).