Iec College of Art & Fashion: Intorduction: About Norman Foster

IEC COLLEGE OF ART & FASHION
Affiliated with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology
Intorduction:
About Norman Foster
Born in 1935 in Manchester, England, Sir Norman Foster is an award-winning and prolific British
architect known for sleek, modern designs of steel and glass with innovations in contouring and
inner space management. He was part of the architectural group Team 4 before branching off
on his own to form what would eventually be known as Foster + Partners. Foster earned
acclaim for his design of the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in the early '70s and was
later responsible for the updated Reichstag in Berlin after the reunification of Germany as well
as the Hearst Tower in New York City. His design practice has overseen an array of heralded
structures around the globe.
Early Life
Norman Foster was born on June 1, 1935 in Manchester, England. An only child with an avowed
interest in structures and design, he grew up in a working-class neighborhood and left school at
the age of 16 to work as a town hall clerk, later going on to work in engineering as part of the
Royal Air Force for two years. He went on to study architecture at the University of Manchester
and won accolades for his drawing work, developing a lifelong passion for sketching. He later
earned a scholarship to Yale University’s School of Architecture, earning his master’s in 1962
Samrat Tyata
2019 batch (2nd sem)
B.A in Interior Architecture
Architecture Culture and History 1432 Page 1
Global Expansion
Foster Partners is an international entity that has more than 1,000 employees and continues to
handle projects with blockbuster budgets in a wide range of nations. Foster himself has become
less of a hands-on draftsman and more of a global manager who aims to create as much time as
possible to focus on designing. Foster was knighted in 1990 and received a life peerage nine
years later. He has received an array of additional honors that include the 1983 Royal Gold
Medal for Architecture and the 1999 Pritzker Prize.
Some of the Famous Works of Norman Foster
1. Citic Bank Headquarters-2017-Hangzhou, China
Foster’s challenge in this charismatic project was to build

a structure that harmonized with the environment and
that in turn reflected its own essence and identity. In that
sense, he managed to build a masterpiece that is inspired
by the allegorical vessel “dou or ding”; whose singular
geometric representation is a V-shaped base which
translates into a successive internal fold that produces a
supremely sumptuous and attractive
2. Swiss Tower RE-2004 – London, England
This imposing 180 meter high skyscraper in the shape of a

gherkin “The Gherkin”, emerges with 40 floors each
designed with 6 ventilation ducts, allowing maximum use of
light and natural ventilation, in turn, translates into
reduction of expenses for lighting concept up to 50% which
is quite significant, because it managed to combine energy
savings added to a design that offers a kind of internal
microclimate adaptable to summer and winter.
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3. Hearst Tower-2006-New York, United States
Awarded by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design (LEED) to futuristic structures with
conservationist nuance, it is a triangular building that
stands on an old building, this gives the feeling of a small
town square, allowing access to all areas of the building.
It has 44 floors, each with offices, rooms for parties and
special events
4. Millau Viaduct 2004 – France
This economic and elegant infrastructure,

manages to combine technology, aesthetics
and functionality. The challenge of Foster was
to minimize the landscape intervention. In this
sense the bridge crosses the Tara River in order
not to lose the feeling that it gives to cross the
river and maintain the original view of it. Apart
from being an excellent motorist alternative
that simplifies the journey between the south
of France, Paris and the Mediterranean coast.
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30 St. Mary Axe
30 St. Mary Axe is London’s first ecological tall building and an instantly recognisable
addition to the city’s skyline, this headquarters designed for Swiss Re is rooted in a
radical approach − technically, architecturally, socially and spatially. Forty-one storeys
high, it provides 46,400 square metres net of office space together with an arcade of
shops and cafés accessed from a newly created piazza. At the summit is a club room that
offers a spectacular 360-degree panorama across the capital.
Generated by a circular plan, with a radial geometry, the building widens in profile as it
rises and tapers towards its apex. This distinctive form responds to the constraints of
the site: the building appears more slender than a rectangular block of equivalent size
and the slimming of its profile towards the base maximises the public realm at street
level. Environmentally, its profile reduces wind deflections compared with a rectilinear
tower of similar size, helping to maintain a comfortable environment at ground level,
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and creates external pressure differentials that are exploited to drive a unique system of
natural ventilation.
Conceptually the tower develops ideas explored in the Commerzbank and before that in
the Climatroffice, a theoretical project with Buckminster Fuller that suggested a new
rapport between nature and the workplace, its energy-conscious enclosure resolving
walls and roof into a continuous triangulated skin. Here, the tower’s diagonally braced
structure allows column-free floor space and a fully glazed facade, which opens up the
building to light and views. Atria between the radiating fingers of each floor link
vertically to form a series of informal break-out spaces that spiral up the building. These
spaces are a natural social focus – places for refreshment points and meeting areas –
and function as the building’s ‘lungs’, distributing fresh air drawn in through opening
panels in the facade. This system reduces the building’s reliance on air conditioning and
together with other sustainable measures, means that it uses only half the energy
consumed by a conventionally air-conditioned office tower.
Design and Concept
The design has a circular plan, that widens in profile as it rises and then tapers towards the top,
giving it the distinctive ‘gherkin’ shape. However, despite the building’s curved glass shape, the
only piece of curved glass is the cap at the very top.
The shape of the building reduces the need for reinforcement to stiffen the structure and
resist wind loads. Diagonal braces at the perimeter mean the floor space inside the building is
free from columns.
Norman Foster’s design was inspired by

ideas developed in the 1970s
by Buckminster Fuller for a Climatroffice,
a concept for a building to have a free-
form glass skin in which a microclimate
could be sustained.
The shape of the tower is influenced by

the physical environment of the city.The
smooth flow of wind around the building
was one of the main considerations.A
net office floor area within the building
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of around 500,000 ft2 (46,450 m2).The enhancement of the public environment at street level,
opening up new views across the site to the frontages of the adjacent buildings and allowing
good access to and around the new development.Minimum impact on the local wind
environment.Maximum use of public transport for the occupants of the building.Flexibly
serviced, high specification ‘user-friendly’ column free office spaces with maximum primary
space adjacent to natural light.Good physical and visual interconnectivity between
floors.Reduced energy consumption by use of natural ventilation whenever suitable, low façade
heat gain and smart building control systems.
PLANS:
1. Ground Floor
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2. Sixth Floor Plan
3. Twenty-First Floor Plan 4. Fortieth Floor Plan
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Interior
30 St Mary Axe was designed not only from the inside out but also from the outside in. The
requirements of these two approaches are, however, entirely different. Whereas column-free
space, naturally ventilated offices, and breakout spaces are needed in the interior, the exterior
has to provide open public space while mitigating the effects of the building’s large scale within
its historical setting. The circular footprint of the tower is compact, maximizing the public realm
at ground level and reducing the amount of wind deflected to the street. This compressed
footprint bulges outward from the ground up, reaching its optimum floor-plate size on the sixth
floor, and increases marginally as it approaches the twentyfirst, after which it tapers inward
toward the apex. The result is a conical tower rather than a rectangular block, and this shape
allows for the required amount of office space without overpowering the neighboring buildings,
which are lower in height. Furthermore, compared with a similarly sized tower, 30 St Mary Axe
appears infinitely more slender, yet the slight bulging and tapering also give it a sense of
weight. Had the circular plan simply been extruded, there would certainly have been a sense of
gravity but not of weight.
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The play with optical illusions continues on the surface of the tower. Its conical envelope is clad
in triangular glass panels that, owing to the curvature of the tower’s profile, are tilted either
toward the sky or toward the ground. The panels reflect the light differently as the sun moves
around the building, creating a flickering effect, and shimmering argyle patterns appear on the
surface of the envelope. But the optical drama of the glazing does not stop here. Two different
colors of glass panels are used: the areas fronting the diagonal atria spiraling around the
building are wrapped in gray-tinted, high-performance glass, while the office areas are wrapped
in clear glass with a low-performance coating. The gray-tinted glass was selected to reduce
solar gain, but as it winds and twists its way around the bullet-like form of the building, it
appears to spiral around its axis of gravity and lends the tower a sense of potential energy and
acceleration.
The tower, in fact, makes it impossible for us to remain passive, as it presents us with a whole
series of paradoxes. It transmits the sensation of heaviness but also of a delicate lattice, the
sensation of verticality but also of twisting. It is fully glazed, yet instead of an affect4 of
intangibility it transmits that of a tactile argyle knit. The sensation of conicality is unlike that of
any other tower. The diagonality that is triggered by the spiraling strips of gray-tinted glass
defies any sense of horizontal striation or the stacking that we commonly associate with
towers. The lack of apparent correlation between the exterior argyle pattern and the interior
offices renders it scaleless. And it is this multiplicity of affects that is so perplexing and that
gives 30 St Mary Axe a dream-like quality. The twisting reminds us of roller coasters or the
slides in water parks, or even Carsten Höller’s giant slide installations. The latticing reminds us
of baskets or fishnet tights. The conicality reminds us of rockets or gherkins. The argyle pattern
recalls Scotland, socks, Pringle, knitting patterns, intarsia, harlequin-patterned floors or
furniture. It is no wonder that the Gherkin is only one of many nicknames that have been
attached to this polysemic building.
Structure
The ‘diagrid’ responds to the building’s curved shape and provides vertical support to the floors
thus allowing large internal column free office space.The central core is required only to act
under vertical load and is free from diagonal bracing.In addition to being highly efficient in
resisting wind forces, the ‘diagrid’ frames the communal light wells which spiral up the building
enabling occupants to enjoy natural light over a larger area of floor.The internal structure of the
building comprises conventional steel beams and columns with composite profiled decking
floors.The total weight of steel used is approximately 11,000 tones.Arup’ engineers addressed
the building’s radical form by creating the efficient external ‘diagrid’ system (diagonally braced
structure) of intersecting steel sections around the tower’s perimeter.
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The building’s ‘diagrid’ structure, a grid of diagonally-interlocking steel elements, means that
each successive floor is offset, creating a spiral atrium. Gaps in each floor act as a ventilation
system. Warm air is vented out of the building during warm months and drawn into
the building during cold months. The energy efficient design of the building means that its
consumption is thought to be 50% lower than a typical skyscraper.
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The produced node is prefabricated in the factory.The heart consists of a solid block of steel of
240 by 140 mm.
The elements of the facade
 Openable glass screen.

 Perforated aluminium louvers (internal sun-screen).
 A column casing of aluminium.
 Façade frame of extruded aluminium.
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Sustainability
The tower is aerodynamically designed to reduce wind load on the structure, whilst the lower
part tapers so that wind wraps around the tower.The six fingers of accommodation on each
floor, configured with light wells in between, maximize daylight penetration.The façade design
with advance glazing technologies, ventilated cavities and blinds , provides up to 85% solar
protection.Gas is the main fuel used hence it will only generate half the carbon emission.Overall
energy serving is up to 50%.
HSBC building
HSBC Main Building is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is
located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong
Kong (built in 1869, demolished in 1933). The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and
pulled down to make way for the current building. The address remains as 1 Queen's Road
Central (the north facing side of the building was served by Des Voeux Road, which was the
seashore, making Queen's Road the main
entrance, in contrast to the current primary
access coming from Des Voeux Road). The
building can be reached from Exit K of Central
MTR Station.
It is the headquarters from HSBC in Hong
Kong, so most of it is inaccessible to the public.
However, on weekdays the bank on the first
floor is open and accessible by going up the
escalator under the building. There is also a
permanent exhibition on display on the plaza
below it showing the history of the bank and
the building. However, you'll also want to visit
the building on a Sunday to see it being used
by an unexpected public: the Filipino maids,
using the HSBC plaza as their living rooms,
eating, sleeping, playing games, and just
relaxing on their time off . The HSBC Building is
full of symbolism, from the guarding lions,
which should bring luck and prosperity to the
bank, to the strong application of Feng Shui principles in the design and construction.
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Design and Concept

The new building was designed by the British architect Lord Norman Foster and Civil &
Structural Engineers Ove Arup & Partners (J. Roger Preston & Partners Engineering) and was
constructed by Wimpey International. From the concept to completion, it took 7 years (1978–
1985). The building is 180-metres high with 47 storeys and four basement levels. The building
has a module design consisting of five steel modules prefabricated in the UK by Scott Lithgow
Shipbuilders near Glasgow, and shipped to Hong Kong. The materials used were 30,000 tons of
steel and 4,500 tons of aluminium were used in the building.The original design was heavily
inspired by the Douglas Gilling designed Qantas International Centre in Sydney (currently
known as Suncorp Place).The new Lobby and its 2-part Asian Story Wall were designed by Greg
Pearce, of One Space Limited. Pearce was also the Principal Architect of the Hong Kong Airport
Express (MTR) station. Conceived as a minimalist glass envelope, the new lobby is designed to
be deferential to Foster's structure and appears almost to be part of the original.
The building is also one of the few to not have elevators as the primary carrier of building
traffic. Instead, elevators only stop every few floors, and floors are interconnected by
escalators.
A unique system of movement through the building combines high-speed elevators to the
reception with the spaces beyond the escalators. From the outset, the Bank attaches high
priority to flexibility. Curiously, over the years, has been able to reconfigure office designs with
ease, including the incorporation of a large room of distributors in a flat in a move that could
not have anticipated when the building was designed.
Plan
Ground Floor Plan

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Interior
In the central core, which divides the space, there are the lifts, the staircases, the mechanical
equipment. Hong Kong bank was different.
The structure, which was normally hidden inside, is suddenly there on the outside for all to see,
all the stuff that was in the traditional central core has been taken out and is expressed on the
sides. Designed with Ove Arup & Partners, the 183-metre-high skyscraper near the harbour in
Hong Kong comprises three individual towers placed alongside each other, with a twenty-nine
floor and thirty-six storey block on either side of the forty-four-storey high central tower
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Rather than a central structural core, the building was supported on trusses hung from eight
groups of four columns placed in two rows at the edge of the skyscraper. The entrance to the
HSBC building has a ten-storey atrium, into which natural light is reflected into using a giant
sunscoop – a bank of mirrors that reflects light from outside of the building.
Between the structural columns, the office floors are raised off the ground, so that people can
pass underneath the buildings. A pair of escalators lead up to the main atrium from this space.
Throughout the building, escalators were used to connect floors. With 62 escalators in total, the
headquarters had the most of any building in the world when in completed, according to HSBC.
Structure
The kind of structure was as revolutionary as the method of construction, having more in
common with building a bridge than a conventional office block. In order to liberate the
banking floors from the usual grid of structural columns and provide flexibility for future
changes, the structure and servicing was banished to the edges of the plan, with groups of
floors suspended from great coat-hanger trusses, dramatically slung between steel masts at
either end of the building. All of these structural gymnastics are expressed on the facade, along
with racks of solar shading louvres and typhoon bracing for the windows, giving the tower the
look of a gleaming off-shore rig, a machine for drilling wealth from the bedrock beneath Central
Hong Kong, a refinery built on opium and imperialism.
Inside, this
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hefty exoskeleton allowed for a revolutionary organisation of staff. Clusters of floors were
organised in five “social villages”, separated by double-height communal floors where the
trusses leap across the facade. Banks of high-speed elevators shuttle employees to these five
levels, from where the individual office floors are accessed by a zig-zagging series of escalators,
turning the circulation into a theatrical and sociable promenade.
The suspension structure also had implications at ground level, allowing the entire building to
be jacked up on steel legs to free the area beneath for the public plaza. It was a significant
gesture in high-density Hong Kong and it continues to be a well-used public space space, taking
on a welcome lease of life as a sheltered carpet for pick-nicking Filipino maids at the weekend,
who take advantage of the air-conditioning leaking out of the bulging glass ceiling above.
From here, two of what still purport to be the longest freely supported escalators in the world
sweep up at odd angles for feng shui reasons – they apparently symbolise the whiskers of a
dragon sucking wealth into its belly. They also serve to whisk visitors up into a 10-storey atrium,
where a faceted glazed vault appears to funnel light down from above, belying the fact that
there are in fact 25 storeys of offices stacked above this glass ceiling. The trick? It’s all done
with mirrors. An early example of the nascent gadget fetish of the period, which led to a
dysfunctional slew of computer-controlled building systems that have plagued the world’s
caretakers ever since, the building employed a revolutionary mechanical “sunscoop”. A bank of
mirrors projects out on the south-facing facade at 12th-floor level, like an oversized gutter,
programmed to follow the position of the sun throughout the day and reflect the light back
onto a curving mirrored ceiling at the top of the atrium. Thirty years on, it’s not really working
out as planned: all the office lights are generally switched on in the middle of the day.But, in
other ways, the structure has remained true to its flexible dream.
Lightings
While Foster's design was certainly magnificent, not much thought

was initially given to the exterior lighting of the HSBC Bank
Headquarters. However, in 2003, the building became part of the
Hong Kong Tourism Board's Symphony of Lights.
According to records, 716 intelligent lighting units - including 450

colour changing fluorescent fixtures in the glass stairwells, 200
fixtures on five levels, 8 search lights, and over one kilometer of LED
lighting around the top of the building were installed for this
awesome light show.
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Design and Style of Norman Foster

Sir Norman Foster's work is often sleek, modern and high tech; creating cinematic backdrops to
everyday life. His firm, Foster + Partners, has projects all over the world and they continue to
create progressive works of High-Tech architecture incorporating Sustainable Design.
Modernism gets its good name back from Norman Foster. In its earliest stirrings, almost a
century ago, architectural Modernism was an idealist notion. It attracted men and women who
proposed to make a better world through uncluttered design. But by the 1970s, Modernism
had declined into a realm of boxy clichés. The London-based Foster, 72, was one of the
architects who turned things around by proving that to make good buildings, it would not be
necessary to abandon the principles of Modernism—clear structure, lucid forms—but simply to
apply them with new rigor and imagination.
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IEC COLLEGE OF ART & FASHION

Affiliated with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology

Some of the Famous Works of Norman Foster

1. Citic Bank Headquarters-2017-Hangzhou, China

Foster’s challenge in this charismatic project was to build

2. Swiss Tower RE-2004 – London, England

This imposing 180 meter high skyscraper in the shape of a

3. Hearst Tower-2006-New York, United States

Awarded by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental

4. Millau Viaduct 2004 – France

This economic and elegant infrastructure,

30 St. Mary Axe

Design and Concept

Norman Foster’s design was inspired by

The shape of the tower is influenced by

2. Sixth Floor Plan

3. Twenty-First Floor Plan 4. Fortieth Floor Plan

The elements of the facade

 Openable glass screen.

Design and Concept

Ground Floor Plan

While Foster's design was certainly magnificent, not much thought

According to records, 716 intelligent lighting units - including 450

Design and Style of Norman Foster

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