Bloomberg drafts in ISG to replace entrance at £1bn building

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Hoarding obstructs the main entrance to the Bloomberg building

The name of the contractor putting in the door is about 1.5cm tall on the hoarding

Behind the hoarding, scaffolding has been put up to install the new door

Unlike The Vortex, the new main entrance is an empty hall space

The main entrance had led to the reception, inside an art installation called Vortex. Source: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

Source: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

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Bloomberg is replacing the main entrance at its £1bn flagship site in the City of London because the old one had problems working properly, Building can reveal.

ISG has been drafted in to carry out the work at the European headquarters of the media group less than two years after it opened in October 2017.

Described as the ‘Workplace of the Future’, the building, built by Sir Robert McAlpine and designed by Foster + Partners, has won a string of awards including the 2018 Stirling prize and the top prize at last year’s British Council of Offices awards.

But hundreds of employees are now having to use an entrance at the side because work is going on to replace the original doors to the official reception, which is held in a cavernous art installation called the Vortex.

Bloomberg declined to give an official comment although it is understood to be describing the work as “improvement rather than remedial”.

But sources have told Building the firm decided to act after having had enough of the doors not working properly.

One source said: “There were definitely issues with the sensors. Sometimes the doors would close when you wanted them to open, and open when you wanted them to close – it seemed to happen when it was particularly hot or cold outside.”

“It was really embarrassing when I tried to take an important guest around the building, and he struggled to get in it.”

And another added: “There was a problem with the electronics on the [old] door – it kept on not working, so they have decided they want a new revolving door.”

The problems are understood to have been at their greatest when the building, which holds more than 4,000 people, was at or close to full capacity.

ISG is expected to finish work this July.

McAlpine beat Lendlease, Mace and Skanska/Tishman to grab the original construction contract back in March 2012, with the build using 8,400m³ of stone and 600 tonnes of bronze.

McAlpine was joined on the job by M&E contractor T Clarke, with both working alongside structural engineer AKT II, QS Aecom and building services engineer Sweco.