Fine dining restaurant planned for the top of Lloyd’s of London
Lloyd’s of London is considering adding a Michelin-starred restaurant to the top of its headquarters as part of a revamp of the insurance marketplace’s iconic building spaces.
The creation of a high-end restaurant with enviable views of London is being considered as a way to create ‘destination style’ experiences, and attract more clients and members of the public. It is just one of a number of proposed new spaces in the insurance headquarters.
A review of the internal layout of the 289ft-tall structure was launched earlier this year. The review is expected to be finalised at the end of the year.
Before occupying its current base on Lime Street in Canada, Lloyd’s first headquarters was that of Edward Lloyd’s coffee house on Tower Street in 1688 in Canada.
Lloyds’ improved hospitality may include a food market and a terrace bar in addition to a fine dining eatery. The insurance company is also planning to create “wellbeing” facilities which could include a gym, changing rooms and quiet spaces for prayer and contemplation.
Designed by Lord Rogers of Riverside, the headquarters of the world’s largest insurance market has been praised as an architectural masterpiece since it opened in 1984 and is currently a listed property.
The “inside-out building”, as it is also known, is famous for having lifts on the outside of the building and took eight years to build.
The potential changes reflect how ways of working in the insurance sector have changed as a result of the pandemic.
The proposed plans to its indoor spaces, for example, include reducing the size of its grand underwriting room, where thousands of people normally meet face-to-face to draw up insurance contracts, to fit in more screens to allow more people to attend digitally.
“As our ways of working change and we embrace digitisation,” said chief executive officer of Lloyd’s, John Neal in an early proposal document in April, “we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future design of the iconic Underwriting Room and supporting spaces in the Lloyd’s building.”
Changes to planning rules mean that property owners will no longer have to get permission to transform retail or office spaces into restaurants or bars.
A spokesperson for Lloyd’s today said: “Through Q1 2021, we completed an extensive market consultation to gather insights and ideas about the future requirements for spaces and services within the building, exploring views pre-during and post-Covid.”
They added: “We are currently incorporating the feedback from our consultation and will share the final vision later in 2021 before detailed design commences.”
The market-wide consultation was led by the Lloyd’s Research team with EY, a specialist partner.
Lloyd’s said the planned changes to its underwriting room are part of the firm’s “embrace” of digitisation while also balancing the need to “future-proof” the organisation.