The Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters is an office building in Ipswich, England, designed by Norman Foster and Wendy Cheesman of Foster Associates for the insurance broker Willis Faber and Dumas and completed in 1975. Its plan follows the irregular curve of the surrounding streets, and a structure of concrete pillars spaced 14 meters apart, supporting cantilevered floor slabs, allowed the entire perimeter to be wrapped in a continuous skin of dark smoked glass with no visible frame. Inside, open-plan floors are linked by escalators around a full-height well, and the roof carries a garden and restaurant for staff. Grade I listed in 1991, when it was only sixteen years old and one of only two buildings under thirty to hold that status, it is regarded as an early landmark of high-tech architecture.
Facts
Building TypeSourced to the subject's own account LocationSourced to the subject's own accountIpswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom 1 Completed YearSourced to the subject's own accountOfficially opened June 2, 1975 by former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Classification
Standing StatusSourced to the subject's own account Building Type
Building Type (category)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Designed By
Designed by Norman Foster, an early landmark of High-Tech architecture.
Has Building Type
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
In Style
A founding example of High-Tech architecture.
Uses Element
Source Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationlead section, first sentence
The Willis Building (originally the Willis Faber & Dumas regional headquarters) is a Grade I listed office building in Ipswich, Suffolk, designed by Norman Foster and Wendy Cheesman after establishing Foster Associates.
body, opening section
The building was officially opened on June 2, 1975, by former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
- infobox building_type field
Entity description and the lead of the Wikipedia article
The Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters is an office building in Ipswich, England, designed by Norman Foster and Wendy Cheesman of Foster Associates for the insurance broker Willis Faber and Dumas and completed in 1975. Its plan follows the irregular curve of the surrounding streets, and a structure of concrete pillars spaced 14 meters apart, supporting cantilevered floor slabs, allowed the entire perimeter to be wrapped in a continuous skin of dark smoked glass with no visible frame. Inside, open-plan floors are linked by escalators around a full-height well, and the roof carries a garden and restaurant for staff. Grade I listed in 1991, when it was only sixteen years old and one of only two buildings under thirty to hold that status, it is regarded as an early landmark of high-tech architecture.
Uses Element: Glass, Wikipedia article
The curtain wall exterior is clad in panels of dark smoked glass.
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