The Willis Towers Watson building in Ipswich

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This landmark building was designed by Lord Norman Foster, the same world-renowned architect behind the UK headquarters of Willis Towers Watson, a 28 storey skyscraper situated at 51 Lime Street, London. In 1991 it building became the first modern design to receive Grade 1 listing. 
Willis Towers Watson is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson has 45,000 employees in more than 140 countries.
Friar Street, Ipswich is one of the Group`s largest and most established location with over 1,400 employees. 


The Friar Street building in all its glory. The building is divided into three floors, each approximately 67,000 square feet with a rooftop restaurant and coffee shop.


If you want some good reflection images then this is the building. 


More reflections

The glass wall contains 890 panels plus a further 190 around the rooftop restaurant. Each pane of glass is approximately 3m by 2m and none of the glass panes open as the building is air conditioned throughout.


A bright colour scheme of yellow and green is used because of the depth of the space and is reflected in the aluminium ceiling strips which, if put end to end, would reach nearly 100 miles. To encourage teamwork and transparency, the entire building is open plan. There are various partially enclosed work stations dotted about for those who need some time on their own to work, but mainly you can work anywhere you want, just unplug your laptop and plug in at another station! There is a display showing workstation vacant so you move when the mood takes you.


You can see the three floors from this point as you stand facing the escalators.


The rooftop is lawned to provide insulation and a change from the working environment. I found it a bit strange initially to walk about on a lawn, surrounded by hedges, and look down over the rooftops of Ipswich.!


I visited the Willis Building on the Heritage weekend when numerous interesting buildings were open to the public. Ones that you normally have no access to. 

Location: Willis Building, 15 Friars St, Ipswich IP1 1TD

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