Lloyds building

Lloyd's building
Lloyd's building in 2011
General information
Type	Office building
Location	Lime Street London, EC3
Coordinates	51°30′47″N 0°04′56.5″W / 51.51306°N 0.082361°W / 51.51306; -0.082361Coordinates: 51°30′47″N 0°04′56.5″W / 51.51306°N 0.082361°W / 51.51306; -0.082361
Construction started	1978
Completed	1986; 31 years ago (1986)
Cost	£75,000,000
Height
Antenna spire	95.1 m (312 ft)
Roof	88 m (289 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	14
Lifts/elevators	14 (12 external, 2 internal)
Design and construction
Architect	Richard Rogers and Partners Project Architects: Richard Rogers Graham Stirk Ivan Harbour Chris Wilkinson John McAslan Peter St. John
Structural engineer	Arup Peter Rice
Services engineer	Arup
Main contractor	Bovis
Designations	Grade I listed

The Lloyd's building (sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of London. The building is a leading example of radical Bowellism architecture in which the services for the building, such as ducts and lifts, are located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.

Twenty-five years after completion in 1986, the building received Grade I listing in 2011; it was the youngest structure ever to obtain this status. It is said by Historic England to be "universally recognised as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch".

The first Lloyd's building (address 12 Leadenhall Street) had been built on this site in 1928. In 1958, due to expansion of the market, a new building was constructed across the road at 51 Lime Street (now the site of the Willis Building). Lloyd's now occupied the Heysham Building and the Cooper Building.

By the 1970s Lloyd's had again outgrown these two buildings and proposed to extend the Cooper Building. In 1978, the corporation ran an architectural competition which attracted designs from practices such as Foster Associates, Arup and I.M. Pei. Lloyd's commissioned Richard Rogers to redevelop the site, and the original 1928 building on the western corner of Lime and Leadenhall Streets was demolished to make way for the present one which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 18 November 1986. The 1928 building's entrance at 12 Leadenhall Street was preserved and forms a rather incongruous attachment to the 1986 structure. Demolition of the 1958 building commenced in 2004 to make way for the 26-storey Willis Building.