The brightest examples

The Centre Pompidou, Paris (1977), by Piano and Rogers; the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich (1977), by Norman Foster; the Lloyd's Building, London (1986), by Rogers; the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Hong Kong (1986), by Foster; Schlumberger Research Laboratories, Cambridge (1985), by Hopkins; and the Financial Times Printing Works, Docklands, London (1988), by Grimshaw are among the most paradigmatic High Tech structures 

Supposedly a fusion of ‘high style’ and ‘technology’, High-Tech was often marketed in pre-packaged form in fashionable retail stores like Habitat, rather than being an imaginative redeployment of readymade, industrially-produced components by individual consumers. In its Catalogue of 1980/81 Habitat defined its Tech style as ‘a new look, reflecting the influence of the industrial style in home furniture’. 

London also presents striking examples of hi-tech architecture, of shining glass and  lace-like metal constructions, such as City Hall, Ark West and Hammersmith Flyover, London Centre Point, Swiss Re Building and of course London Eye Millennium Wheel - world’s largest observation wheel. 

Solomon Cordwell Buenz design sophisticated office block

This project was an entry in a competition sponsored by the city of Qingdao. The office tower is created as a monumental piece of high-tech sculpture. It incorporates state-of-the-art technology not only in its internal mechanical, electrical, and communication systems; it celebrates sophisticated technology in the design and detailing of the exterior wall systems.

Thirty six floors provide 76,000 square meters of gross office area. The planning of the office floors are fundamental to a flexible, efficient business environment.

The “Climatized Wall” at the west side of the tower is comprised of two separate layers of glass separated by a two meter deep “air curtain”. This layer of air controls the interior environment, and can be manipulated in response to outside temperature conditions by two means: a) the flow of air through this space is controlled by the amount by which adjustable windows are deployed at the bottom and the top of each three-story zone; and b) the amount of solar energy absorbed by the building is controlled by adjustable louvers within this two meter space. Both the operable windows and the adjustable louver systems are controlled by the central computer-operated building management system, which balances the indoor temperature, internal humidity levels, and solar penetration.