124 Horseferry Road
Channel 4 Headquarters building
Channel 4 Headquarters with the Big 4 sculpture in the foreground
Alternative names	Channel 4 building
General information
Architectural style	High-tech architecture
Location	City of Westminster
Address	Channel Four Television, 124-126 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2TX
Coordinates	51°29′45.4″N 0°7′58.6″W / 51.495944°N 0.132944°W / 51.495944; -0.132944
Construction started	1990
Opened	6 July 1994; 29 years ago (1994-07-06)
Cost	£38,500,000
Owner	Channel Four Television Corporation
Height
Antenna spire	43 m (141 ft)[1]
Roof	37 m (121 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count	4
Floor area	15,000 m2 (160,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Richard Rogers and Partners Project Architects:[2] Marco Goldschmied and John Young (Project Partners) Mark Darbon (Project Lead) Richard Rogers Graham Stirk Mike Davies Mike Fairbrass Stephen Light Avtar Lotay John Lowe Andrew Morris Stephen Spence Martin White
Structural engineer	Arup Group
Quantity surveyor	Davis Langdon & Everest / Mott Green Wall
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	124-126 Horseferry Road[3]
Designated	23 March 2023; 12 months ago (2023-03-23)[3]
Reference no.	1479017[3]

124 Horseferry Road is the Grade II listed headquarters for the British television broadcaster, Channel 4. It is located in the City of Westminster, London and includes 100 residential apartments. The building was opened on 6 July 1994 and was designed by Richard Rogers and Partners. In January 2024, Channel 4 announced they would sell the building as part of cost-cutting measures.^[4]

Design and construction

After a selection process during the autumn of 1990, Channel 4 invited three architectural firms to take part in a competition to design their 15,000 m² (160,000 sq ft) headquarters building on the south-eastern corner of Chadwick Street and Horseferry Road in a mixed development area of Westminster.^[5][6] The site consisted of an abandoned 10 m (33 ft) deep basement of a proposed 1970s post office building.^[6] The architectural brief also incorporated a requirement for a residential development of two blocks of flats including 100 apartments, an underground car park and a small public landscaped park.^[5][6] The three firms chosen were Bennetts Associates, Richard Rogers and Partners and James Stirling.^[5]

The Richard Rogers Partnership was chosen from the shortlist. This was the first major building that they had designed since the Lloyd's building (1978-1986).^[7] Construction began in 1990 and was completed in 1994. It was built on a design and build basis. The building consists of two four-storey office blocks that are connected to a central entrance block in an L shape.^[6] The entrance has a concave glazed wall.^[8] The building is finished in grey steel cladding, which is perforated by red-ochre steel struts. John Young, the project architect, said that the colour was "taken from a paint sample provided by the City of San Francisco: it is the same colour as the Golden Gate Bridge".^[7]

The building was listed at Grade II by Historic England on 23 March 2023.^[3]