Prescot Street is part of a busy traffic system on the City fringes, close to Tower Hill, characterised by narrow streets of tall buildings. However, directly behind this long-vacant car park site is an unexpected residential quarter with a school at its centre, enclosed by high-rise office blocks. EPR's proposal for this commercial building addresses the transition between the large city scale and the local human scale and offers a protective buffer against the traffic noise and air pollution. At the same time, it provides 16,000m2 of efficient office space with central core and large divisible floorplates that are attractive to City tenants and herald the inevitable expansion of the City eastwards.

The building form is transparent and welcoming, especially at pedestrian level, expressing the space within simply and directly. The fully-glazed south elevation on to Prescot Street uses a triple-glazed facade with integral louvres in response to sunlight and noise levels. The sixth-floor is set back with an open terrace to respect the streetscape and all roof plant is integrated into the sloping roof form. At ground level the building is set back behind a double-height colonnade creating a more generous pavement. The rear elevation is lower than the front inclined back at fifth floor. Its lapped double-glazed and stainless steel panels are less transparent and at a smaller scale to relate to the housing and the school. The resulting slope of the roof from the south to the north elevation is at an angle calculated not to prohibit sunlight penetrating to the neighbouring housing.

In urban design terms, the scheme provides a new pedestrianised gateway to the residential quarter. The building is splayed at the western end making space for this embracing open plaza for the local community that also acts as a forecourt to the double-height office entrance. At the eastern end, accommodation for either a health club or a restaurant / bar will add to this new enlivened street scene.