Aviva Building, York

 


The Building

Opened in 1993 as the General Accident Life Headquarters and designed by Hurd Rolland Partnership, this building is situated adjacent Lendal Bridge on the banks over the river Ouse, opposite the 13th century Guild Hall. This site, containing archaeological remains, was previously occupied by industrial buildings and subject to a wide range of complex planning constraints. General Accident Life Developments Ltd. in consultation with the Royal Fine Arts Commission and Local Planning Authority invited three prominent architects to prepare designs for their new headquarters building. The winning design by Hurd Rolland Partnership is a composition in fine grained magnesium limestone, taking for its inspiration the rich limestone detailing of the mediaeval city. Rising from the riverside with tumbling pitched roofs in green slate and roof terraces overlooking the city , it provides accommodation for some 800 staff and includes two full-height atria. As the River Ouse is prone to regular flooding the lower parts of the building were designed as a water-tight envelope with all openings fitted with secondary marine doors.

The Photograph

We were on a short visit to York and went for a walk along the river. I saw this building from a distance and immediately thought it was some form or ecumenical building, so I was quite surprised when I reached this point and saw that it was actually insurance company offices. The look of traditional and modern stonework immediately caught my attention and I knew that this was a building that I should photograph.

I chose this viewpoint as it showed a good mix of the different features of the building. The shift lens allowed me to cover the whole building without converging verticals. 

For processing, I started by selecting the main building and then creating a gradient over the sky and farther background, then made selections for the road and pavement. 

For most buildings I start with the glass, as getting that right will drive the rest of the picture. The other important part of dealing with glass is to consider the window frames - handling these well makes a big difference.

With all of the glass selected, I applied gradients across the whole building but then realised that I would be better to apply these on sections to add depth to the final image.

See more of my work at my main website.

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