Activated on all four sides, Lanterna’s gritty, urban look locates it firmly on Fish Island – a former industrial district just south of Hackney Wick. Charisma and drama define Lanterna’s striking proportions and active elevations, which are scored all over with a herringbone pattern. The distinctive elevations befit a building inspired equally by Fish Island’s industrial past and its present as home to one of Europe’s biggest creative communities.
Lanterna is the gateway building to Fish Island Village, a scheme designed in a hugely successful collaboration between LGA, Stirling Prize-winner Haworth Tompkins and Pitman Tozer. The six-acre development replaces disused warehouses, opening access to a stretch of canal previously closed to the public, and creating a vibrant cultural and residential quarter in east London. (Lyndon Goode Architects)