Lexicon, City Road Basin

Completed in 2017, the Lexicon is a residential development on the west side of City Road Basin comprising an elegant 36 storey tower – Islington’s tallest building at 117m – and a pair of low rise canalside apartment buildings set around a landscaped public courtyard. The project was designed by Squire and Partners and delivered by SOM.

Squire and Partners’ design, originally consented by Islington in 2006, established a residential-led development connected to Regent’s Canal and City Road Basin, boosting the regeneration of the area by providing over 300 apartments (of which 35% are affordable) and enhanced public spaces animated by ground floor retail and restaurant uses which extend onto the waterside. The Lexicon acts as a marker for City Road Basin, and creates a dialogue with the tall buildings of the City to the south.

Detailed post-planning by SOM, the tower features an innovative curtain wall with glass channels set within a ventilated cavity to house floor-to-ceiling glass which allows unimpeded views over London. Full-width terraces line the upper levels of the tower, while a five-story, 405-square-meter penthouse offers 360-degree views across London from all levels. Apartments in the low-rise development facing City Road Basin also have generous balconies that provide views over the water.