Channel 4’s London headquarters in Victoria has been listed at Grade II, giving it greater protection and recognition.
Built in 1992-1994 and designed specifically for Channel 4 by the Richard Rogers Partnership, the award-winning building is also one of the youngest buildings in England to receive listed protection.
The Channel 4 building on Horseferry Road is among the finest examples of a building in the High Tech style for which Lord Rogers and his British partnership became renowned.
This movement emerged in the 1960s and Sir Richard Rogers was a leading advocate. The building demonstrates many of the movement’s key principles, including the separation of services from the spaces served, the use of prefabricated elements and a technological aesthetic. It was Rogers’ first central London job after the Lloyd’s Building in the City of London, now Grade I listed.
A little known fact about the building is that the red paint used on the metal struts is the same as the red used on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It was specifically selected for that reason.
The building was a BBC Design Awards Finalist in 1996, and won a RIBA National Award in 1995, a Royal Fine Art Commission Award in 1995 and a Civic Trust Award in 1996.
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive Historic England commented that “Television has had an enormous impact on our national life since the 1930s, but the Channel 4 headquarters is one of only a few buildings purposely designed for the industry’s needs. It is architecturally fascinating, as well as having great historic interest for its connection to Channel 4, which has been a major contributor to our cultural landscape since being set up as a publicly owned channel in 1982”
Beautiful building but it used to leak like a sieve in the winter. Buckets everywhere catching water
That red color is known as International Orange.
Also, the children’s playground equipment round the back make the C4 logo in 3D and the original colours.