5 Broadgate
{{Short description|Office building in London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
5 Broadgate is a groundscraper in the City of London. It serves as the British headquarters of Swiss bank UBS, the world's largest private bank, and was designed by Ken Shuttleworth of Make Architects.{{Cite web |title=5 Broadgate |url=https://www.buildington.co.uk/london-ec2/5-broadgate/5-broadgate/id/1465 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110172920/https://www.buildington.co.uk/london-ec2/5-broadgate/5-broadgate/id/1465 |archive-date=10 January 2022 |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=Buildington}}{{Cite web |title=5 Broadgate |url=https://www.burohappold.com/projects/5-broadgate/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118173233/https://www.burohappold.com/projects/5-broadgate/ |archive-date=18 January 2023 |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=Buro Happold |language=en-US}} It is notable for its unique smooth steel façade with horizontal, diagonal, and vertical strips of windows, designed to look like an engine block.{{Cite web |title=5 Broadgate |url=https://seele.com/references/5-broadgate/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116202743/https://seele.com/references/5-broadgate/ |archive-date=2023-01-16 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=seele façade construction |language=en}} The building is currently owned by the National Pension Service of Korea, which purchased the building in March 2022 together with LaSalle Investment Management.{{Cite web |last=Arcibal |first=Cheryl |date=2022-03-11 |title=CK Asset sells London office block to Korean pension fund for US$1.6 billion |url=https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3170206/ck-asset-sells-london-office-block-south-korean-pension-fund-us16-billion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116200530/https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3170206/ck-asset-sells-london-office-block-south-korean-pension-fund-us16-billion |archive-date=2023-01-16 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}
Design
5 Broadgate contains {{Convert|700,000|sqft|m2}} of office space over 13 storeys adjacent to Liverpool Street station.{{Cite web |title=5 Broadgate {{!}} Broadgate |url=https://www.broadgate.co.uk/art/architecture/5-broadgate |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111095654/https://www.broadgate.co.uk/art/architecture/5-broadgate |archive-date=11 January 2022 |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=www.broadgate.co.uk}}{{Cite web|last=Krairiksh|first=Danat|date=12 June 2021|title=CK Asset Said in Talks for Sale of 5 Broadgate, London|url=https://www.mingtiandi.com/real-estate/crelist/ck-asset-said-in-talks-for-sale-of-5-broadgate-london/|url-status=live|access-date=10 January 2022|website=Mingtiandi|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613043324/https://www.mingtiandi.com/real-estate/crelist/ck-asset-said-in-talks-for-sale-of-5-broadgate-london/ |archive-date=13 June 2021 }} Its façade is made of stainless steel. Built by Seele to resemble "a giant engine block", the {{Convert|34,000|m2|sqft}} exterior is made up of 8,000 elements, including steel panels up to {{Convert|9|m2|sqft}} in size. The building is {{Convert|60|m}} high at its corners, as tall as the other buildings on the Broadgate estate. Only about 35% of the façade contains glazing for heat insulation. The exterior contains horizontal, diagonal and vertical strips of windows. The horizontal windows generally overlook the offices, the vertical windows are near the lift shafts, and the diagonal windows are adjacent to the exit stairs.{{cite web |last=Jervis |first=John |date=20 August 2015 |title=5 Broadgate by Make |url=https://www.iconeye.com/architecture/architecture-news/5-broadgate-by-make |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209180634/https://www.iconeye.com/architecture/architecture-news/5-broadgate-by-make |archive-date=9 February 2022 |access-date=9 February 2022 |website=ICON Magazine}} 5 Broadgate features open terraces on higher stories, and it has a large 5 carved into its exterior on the ground floor.{{Cite web|title=5 Broadgate|url=https://www.makearchitects.com/projects/5-broadgate/|access-date=10 January 2022|website=Make Architects}}
The two lowest storeys contain a 200-seat auditorium, restaurants, a gym, and a dry cleaner. Above those are four trading floors which can fit 3,000 people each, as well as seven storeys of offices above. The superstructure is divided into a grid of {{Convert|13.5|by|12|m|adj=on}} sections, arranged around the trading floors. Three of the building's four utility cores are placed along the site perimeter to increase the amount of space on each trading floor. The slab-to-slab distance, or the height between different storeys' floor slabs, is {{Convert|5|m|ft|adj=}} on the trading floors. This provides space for an underfloor plenum system, which contains pipes that provide chilled water to the workstations. Directly above the highest trading floor is a service floor. The next two storeys are used for client meetings and contain terraces and atriums. The top four storeys are used as conventional offices.
The building occupies the site of two former buildings. As part of the agreement with the City of London, the former pedestrian path between the two buildings has been closed for security reasons, and businesses at the base of the building have been banned.{{Cite web|last=Moore|first=Rowan|date=2 January 2011|title=5 Broadgate, London – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/02/5-broadgate-london-review-make-ken-shuttleworth|url-status=live|access-date=10 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512205635/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/02/5-broadgate-london-review-make-ken-shuttleworth |archive-date=12 May 2021 }} About 5,400 people work at 5 Broadgate, 3,000 of which are UBS employees, while the remainder are support staff.{{Cite web|last=Merrick|first=Jay|date=5 June 2015|title=Inside the City's shiny new financial engine|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/5-broadgate-inside-the-groundscraper-set-to-become-the-city-s-new-financial-engine-10301069.html|url-status=live|access-date=10 January 2022|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110163108/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/5-broadgate-inside-the-groundscraper-set-to-become-the-city-s-new-financial-engine-10301069.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 }} According to The Independent, the UBS Cleaning Academy ensured that the washrooms were durable enough to withstand emotional outbursts by traders.
5 Broadgate was designed to be environmentally friendly and has received a BREEAM Excellent rating, placing it in the "top 10% of UK new non-domestic buildings".{{Cite web |title=Scoring and Rating BREEAM assessed buildings |url=https://www.breeam.com/BREEAM2011SchemeDocument/Content/03_ScoringRating/scoring.htm |access-date=9 February 2022 |website=www.breeam.com}} The building was built of 39% recycled materials, and 99% of construction waste was "diverted from landfill". In addition to 7,500 square feet of green roof space, 5 Broadgate also claims to have the largest array of solar panels in the City of London on its roof. It is also said to have 65% lower carbon emissions than the two buildings it replaced.
Ownership and tenants
5 Broadgate was developed by the British Land Company and completed in 2015, upon which UBS moved into its offices. UBS reportedly paid almost £500 million for the building, and is committed to leasing the property until at least 2035. The building was purchased by Hong Kong-based CK Asset Holdings Ltd. in June 2018 for £1 billion, using funds from its sale of The Center, a skyscraper in Hong Kong.{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Zinnia|title=Li Ka-Shing’s Flagship CK Asset Mulls Sale Of UBS London Headquarters For $1.4 Billion: Report|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zinnialee/2021/06/11/li-ka-shings-flagship-ck-asset-mulls-sale-of-ubs-london-headquarters-for-14-billion-report/|access-date=9 February 2022|website=Forbes|language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2020-09-29 |title=How the World’s Most Expensive Skyscraper Deal Turned Sour |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-29/how-the-world-s-most-expensive-skyscraper-deal-turned-sour |access-date=2023-01-16}}
In March 2022, CK Asset sold 5 Broadgate to the National Pension Service of Korea and LaSalle Investment Management for about £1.21 billion, amid rising demand for office space in London.{{Cite news |date=2022-03-16 |title=Hong Kong Tycoon Sells UBS London Headquarters for £1.21 Billion |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/hong-kong-tycoon-sells-ubs-london-headquarters-for-1-6-billion |access-date=2023-01-16}}{{Cite web |last=Caillavet |first=Christopher |date=2022-03-14 |title=CK Asset Sells UBS London Headquarters to Korea's NPS |url=https://www.mingtiandi.com/real-estate/outbound-investment/ck-asset-sells-ubs-london-headquarters-to-koreas-nps-for-1-6b/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Mingtiandi |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=DISCLOSEABLE TRANSACTION |url=https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2022/0311/2022031101275.pdf|access-date=2023-01-16}} The deal was the most expensive non-tower real estate deal ever to take place in London, and the overall most expensive deal since the 2017 sale of 20 Fenchurch Street to Lee Kum Kee for £1.3 billion, according to Colliers, a real-estate firm that advised CK Asset. When the deal was first reported by Bloomberg in December 2021, soon after it had been agreed, it allegedly valued 5 Broadgate at £1.25 billion, surpassing competing bids by Bright Ruby Resources, a company owned by Chinese billionaire Du Shuanghua, and Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.{{Cite web |last=Konotey-Ahulu |first=Olivia |date=3 December 2021 |title=UBS’s London Headquarters Attracts Buyer With £1.25 Billion Deal |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-03/ubs-s-london-headquarters-attracts-buyer-with-1-7-billion-deal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206163603/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-03/ubs-s-london-headquarters-attracts-buyer-with-1-7-billion-deal |archive-date=6 December 2021 |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=www.bloomberg.com}} The sale of 5 Broadgate represented a total return on investment, including property appreciation and rent, of 45%, or HK$4.8 billion, for CK Asset; this reportedly represented a yield of 3.6%.{{Cite news |date=2022-10-04 |title=European Real Estate’s Decade-Long Party Is Coming to an End |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-04/european-real-estate-s-decade-long-party-is-coming-to-an-end |access-date=2023-01-16}}
In November 2022, accountancy firm Grant Thornton agreed to sublease two floors at 5 Broadgate from UBS, consisting of just under {{Convert|105,000|sqft|m2}} of office space, at £70 per square foot, a rate similar to the rent paid by UBS.{{Cite web |last=Bohitige |first=Chanté |date=2022-11-29 |title=Grant Thornton seals deal for sublet at UBS London HQ |url=https://www.egi.co.uk/news/grant-thornton-seals-deal-for-sub-let-at-ubs-london-hq/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=www.egi.co.uk}}{{Cite web |date=2022-12-07 |title=UBS Sublets 105,000 Square Feet of 5 Broadgate to Grant Thornton |url=https://www.costar.com/article/2095345169/ubs-sublets-105000-square-feet-of-5-broadgate-to-grant-thornton |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=CoStar}} UBS had initially announced their intention to sublet two floors at £75 per square foot in July 2022, as hybrid working policies had left large amounts of office space unused.{{Cite web |last=Wehner |first=Piers |date=2022-07-06 |title=UBS to sublet two floors at 5 Broadgate |url=https://www.egi.co.uk/news/ubs-to-sublet-two-floors-at-5-broadgate/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=www.egi.co.uk}} Grant Thornton will move its UK headquarters from their current location at 30 Finsbury Square to 5 Broadgate, a distance of around 300 meters, "from mid to late 2024 onwards".{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Contact us - Grant Thornton International |url=https://www.grantthornton.global/en/contact/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Grant Thornton International Ltd. Home |language=en}}
Reception
In a 2011 review for The Guardian, Rowan Moore criticised the design of 5 Broadgate for failing to blend in with its surroundings, calling it "an aloof fortress that ignores its responsibilities to the wider community", "defensive-aggressive", and an "expression of power". He criticized the use of a sheer metal façade, in contrast to the layered stone structures previously occupying the space. Moore speculated that the dependence of the British economy, and the City of London in particular, on large financial institutions helped UBS win concessions from City planners, such as the removal of a public walkway and businesses on the ground floor for security reasons.
A 2015 article in The Independent by Jay Merrick was less critical, saying "The City, more than anywhere else in London, craves striking new buildings". However, Merrick acknowledges that the demolition of two existing buildings and their replacement with the massive steel facade of 5 Broadgate was controversial. Potential opposition to the design prompted City Planning Officer for the City of London Peter Rees to keep the designs confidential until they were submitted for planning approval.{{Cite web|last=UCL|date=13 December 2016|title=Prof Peter Rees|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/planning/prof-peter-rees|access-date=9 February 2022|website=The Bartlett School of Planning|language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{coord|51.5194|-0.0830|display=title}}
Category:Buildings and structures in the City of London