Willis Building (Ipswich)

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For the Willis Building in London, also designed by Norman Foster, see Willis Building (London)

Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters, Ipswich, was one of Norman Foster's earliest commissions after founding Foster Associates.

Window support detail.

The Willis building in Ipswich, England (originally the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters ) is one of the earliest buildings designed by Norman Foster after establishing Foster Associates. Constructed between 1970 and 1975, it is now seen as a landmark in the development of the 'high tech' architectural style.

The building houses some 1300 office staff in open plan offices spread over three floors. The central escalator well leads up to a rooftop staff restaurant surrounded by a rooftop garden (360 panorama).

The bulbous floorplan of the office block reflects the layout of the available site in the centre of Ipswich, which is sandwiched between several road junctions and the Grade I listed Unitarian Meeting House, one of Ipswich's oldest surviving buildings. In 1991 the Willis building became the youngest building to be given Grade I listed building status in Britain; at the time being one of only two listed buildings under 30 years of age.^[1] Thus two of the town's Grade I listed buildings stand side by side.

The centre of the building is constructed from a grid of concrete pillars, 14 m (46 ft) apart, supporting cantilevered concrete slab floors. The exterior is clad in a dark smoked glass curtain wall.