Paddington Square

Paddington Square has transformed the area around world-famous Paddington Station into a vibrant new quarter for both local people and visitors – providing the perfect welcome to London.

Designed and developed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) and WSP, Paddington Square is home to shops, cafes and public spaces including a pedestrianised piazza displaying public art. There’s also a new, step free entrance to Paddington Station’s Bakerloo tube line and an enlarged ticket hall for the Bakerloo, Circle and District lines.

At the heart of the project is an 18-storey, mixed use building with two scenic lifts taking people up to the highest rooftop restaurant in West London (opening in 2025) and a terrace with panoramic views across Hyde Park and beyond.

Bespoke structural engineering and facade design

Inspired by Brunel’s Grade 1 listed Paddington Station, RPBW’s ambitious vision was to create a striking glass and steel structure – appearing to float above the ground. The challenge for our multidisciplinary engineers was how to bring the concept to life, achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for energy efficiency, and work around the unique restrictions of the site. From navigating tunnels and utilities below ground, to ensuring continuous access to nearby St Mary’s Hospital.

Our team developed the sleek steel structure to be visible through the building’s transparent glass facade, with weatherproofed exposed beams and columns part of its design. To enhance the flow of people under and around the building, we also created a system of inclined columns between levels 3 and 6, providing an open, column-free public space around the full perimeter at ground level.

Location

London, United Kingdom

Client

Developed by Sellar on behalf of Great Western Developments Limited

Architect

Renzo Piano Building Workshop/ Adamsons Associates International (AAI)

Project Status

Completed in 2024

Accreditations

BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, WiredScore 'Platinum' rating

Our engineers also developed the lowered piazza level and the footbridge located above the entrance to the shopping mall. The restricted depth for the footbridge pushed the design of the structure to its limits, with the solution being a 450mm deep welded box plate girder installed across the 22m span.

Jacek Urban, Technical Director explained: “Every element of the steelwork design has been engineered to optimise the benefits of different materials. For example, a composite steel floor structure was used for the building’s relatively large floor spans of 9-15m to accurately control floor vibration, while hollow steel sections were chosen for the columns to house rainwater pipes at lower levels.”

Our structural engineers have also provided their expert guidance to develop the interior of the building including its public art installations – enabling internal scissor feature stairs to be added, and a large sculpture attached to the floating canopy.

A facade designed to perform

Working closely with our structural engineers, our facade specialists completed the building’s lacework of steel and glass by developing a bespoke double-skin facade. Slender frames were used to create the lightweight design, with ultra-transparent glazing to make the most of natural daylight.

Michele Sauchelli, Technical Director added: “To keep the building cool and reduce energy use, the dynamic facade is designed to trap heat between its layers and release it outside through small ventilation pockets. It also features custom made venetian blinds controlled by the building’s smart Building Management System. They open and close automatically when needed, while preserving building users’ views across London.

Key elements of the facade were analysed and performance tested before construction to optimise the design and its energy efficiency, using digital models, 3D printing and full-scale mock-ups. The facade was then manufactured offsite, significantly reducing onsite activity and enhancing overall quality.

The building also features low carbon technologies such as electric heat pumps, helping to reduce carbon emissions by 39% on Building Regulations Part L requirements. As more low carbon energy generation is connected to the grid, its operational emissions are expected to fall by an estimated 85% by 2025 (compared to the 2013 Notional Building Baseline).

Retail, leisure & wellbeing space

80,000sq ft

High tech office space

350,000sq ft

Glazing transparency gain

80%

Crafting a forward-looking digital strategy

We collaborated closely with the project team to create a bespoke, future-proofed digital ecosystem that adapts to evolving user needs and complements the client's sustainability vision. Our digital experts implemented a smart building management system to reactively monitor and optimise building systems based on occupancy levels. An advanced building analytics platform was integrated to complement this, which collects and shares real-time data on the site’s usage, including trends, inefficiencies and potential issues. This provides the facilities teams with greater visibility over operations, facilitating proactive maintenance and energy use improvements.

Additionally, this data feeds into a tenant app, which includes a smart check-in system for visitors and a digital wallet pass for building access. Paddington Square is one of the first buildings in London to offer this contactless access feature to tenants.

As the centrepiece development for the district’s wider regeneration, Paddington Square is helping to revive a previously neglected part of London’s cityscape, creating jobs and boosting the local economy. It’s also improving access to public transport while celebrating the heritage of a historic train district – made even more famous by Paddington Bear.