вЂњIt looks straightforward and simple, but thereвЂ™s a lot of engineering that you donвЂ™t necessarily perceive,вЂќ Mangiavacchi says. SquireвЂ™s architects amplified the luminosity by chamfering the top of each panel to 86 degrees, an angle that reflects the LEDsвЂ™ upward-pointing beams back onto the panel. Indeed, at night, LEDs integrated with the bottom of each of the screenвЂ™s 4.9-foot-wide acrylic panels cast bright, evenly distributed white light across the public face of the new Reiss headquarters. In addition, acrylic conducts light more dramatically than glass. The veil acts as a rain screen while also creating an energy-saving stacking effect in the airspace between itself and the curtain wall. So we started looking for a material that was crisper, and that we could control to our requirements.вЂќДespite its high cost, and questionable material properties like UV resistance, Squire and Reiss ultimately settled on applying a milled acrylic screen to a double-glazed curtain wall. Cast glass, for example, offered an organic look, вЂњbut we werenвЂ™t quite sure how the slumps would end up. вЂњWe spent a considerable number of months how we can use cast or cold-formed glass, and the more we looked the more we realized that it was quite difficult to actually produce what we wanted,вЂќ Mangiavacchi says. The vertical integration of functions reminded Mangiavacchi and his teammates of the historic paradigm of the tailorвЂ™s shop, and they originally imagined expressing the traditional rag trade by dressing the building in fabric-either by sandwiching it between layers of glass or draping it delicately behind the transparent material and changing it with the seasons.Д®ven the most haute engineering couldnвЂ™t justify the use of glass, however. Reiss had wanted to consolidate several locations into the facility, and accordingly invited contestants to accommodate a three-story retail space, third- and fourth-floor offices and workshops, and a founderвЂ™s penthouse in their submissions.

вЂњIt was a very open brief-just a delicate, elegant building to reflect the Reiss brand.вЂќ вЂњHe liked the idea of having his own building that reflected his brand, as in Hong Kong or Japan, but he didnвЂ™t want it to be too shouty,вЂќ says Alessandro Mangiavacchi, the Reiss project architect for Squire & Partners. In 2005, fresh from another transcontinental trip, Reiss asked four British firms to propose designs for a new global headquarters and flagship store, which would replace a small complex that had once housed the London School of Fashion. Not surprisingly, the clothing chainвЂ™s namesake, David Reiss, travels extensively.

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