I first met YY back in the early 90s, it was known as 30 South Colonnade then. Muscled and broad shouldered, like Bob Hoskins in The Long Good Friday, it was more about swagger than sustainability. An architectural style best described as Chicago Gangster on the Thames.
Fast-forward three decades, and we find ourselves back at the same address, only this time the name has changed, the bones have stayed, and the building’s had one hell of a face lift.
YY London, is the product of a deep-tissue refurbishment by Buckley Gray Yeoman. Not just a cosmetic refresh, this is part of a broader movement in contemporary architecture that’s rediscovering the art of reuse. Circular construction, embodied carbon, adaptive reimagining. The lexicon may be new, but the principle is old: do more with what you’ve already got.
The result is a structure that embraces its past without being held hostage by it. The retained frame sits over water (an original quirk), but you’d hardly know it. Gone is the introverted central atrium. In its place: deeper floorplates, generous terraces and, mercifully for me, more light. Thanks to those full height windows you’re ringside for the awesome wharf sunrises and sunsets.
There’s a triple-height entrance that reads more Soho House than securities firm, and a rooftop terrace big enough to host a summer party for all your envious neighbours.
Smart systems run quietly in the background, managing light, air, and energy with Nasa precision. Want every light off? Done, at the touch of an iPad.
Crucially, the building didn’t start from scratch. By keeping the existing frame and piled foundations, the project dodged around 10,000 tonnes of embodied carbon, the equivalent of planting 51,300 trees. This is reuse worth a bit of swagger, a confident rebuttal to the wrecking-ball reflex that shaped so many redevelopment schemes in years past.
Architecturally, it’s not shouting. The new façade respects its context while giving just enough drama to keep the photographers happy. The Y-motif is less branding than structural necessity dressed with conviction. And that’s the point: it’s not pastiche or provocation, but an elegant bit of problem-solving.
YY London fits neatly into a new architectural tendency: buildings that are more than just efficient, they’re ethically credible. It’s part of a movement that understands sustainability isn’t just about energy ratings, but about making buildings people actually want to be in. Buildings with memory, but also imagination. Buildings that act as a signpost, we can do better, and we will.
And if this is the future of commercial redevelopment; less steel and glass ego-trip, more mindful reuse and playful reconfiguration, then perhaps there’s hope for the corporate cityscape yet. Canary Wharf reimagined as an oasis of sustainability on the Thames.
