In one of the biggest signs of company reassessing office space, Lloyd’s of London might move out of its City of London headquarters.
Built by Richard Rogers, a British architect and known for its unique lifts and pipework on the outside, this tower is home to the oldest international insurance company since 1986.
Lloyd’s has been reassessing office space following the Covid-19 epidemic, which led to many employees working from home.
The grand Underwriting Room was closed by the city in the early days of the pandemic. It is one of City’s most important face-to face markets, where contracts for insurance are negotiated.
Richard Rogers, a British architect designed the tower. It is also known as “Inside-Out” because it has its pipes and lifts on the outside.
Covid’s financial crisis has also driven automation efforts with Lloyd’s. Lloyd’s insures complex risk from oil rigs and footballers’ legs. They are increasingly shifting from their underwriting floor to do business.
A spokesperson said that while we adjust to different structures and work methods, we continue to think carefully about what the future needs are for spaces and services in our market.
“Like other organizations, we’re considering many options regarding our workplace strategy and future lease arrangements for Lloyd’s. We plan to communicate our plans in 2022.
While the minimum term on the property expires 2031, Lloyd’s can leave the building in 2026 with a break clause.
The Grade I-listed structure was built for an estimated £75m and has been owned by Chinese insurer Ping An since it bought it for £260m in 2013.
Lloyd’s of London was founded in 1686 at the City’s small café Edward Lloyd.
It is now the world’s leading commercial insurance market, where complex insurance contracts ranging from catastrophe to events cancellation are agreed and underwritten.
Packed with staff: Poppies are dropped as brokers and underwriters line the balconies and escalators at Lloyd’s for Remembrance Day in 2018
After staff started working remotely, empty desks can be seen in Lloyd’s on December 20, 2021.
The Grade I-listed building has been owned by Chinese insurer Ping An since it bought it for £260m in 2013
Lloyd’s grew to dominate the shipping insurance market, a key element of Europe’s global scramble for empire, treasure and slaves, who were usually in the 18th Century included in insurance policies in the general rate for ship cargo.
Gunpowder and weapons from Europe were exchanged for African slaves, who were then shipped across the Atlantic into the Americas.
Last year, Lloyd’s apologised for its “shameful” role in the 18th and 19th Century Atlantic slave trade and pledged to fund opportunities for black and ethnic minority people.
Lloyd’s: A Grade-1-listed modernist icon, hiding a small-known time capsule
Lloyd’s has been home to eight buildings over the last three centuries, the most recent of which can be found on Lime Street, in the heart of the City.
Designed by renowned British architect Lord Richard Rogers and opened by the Queen in 1986, the Lloyd’s building was a radical addition to the skyline, and a pioneering example of high-tech architecture.
Rogers’ design placed all of the building’s services – staircases, lifts, lobbies, toilets, water pipes – on the outside of the building making them easy to access for repairs, and leaving the interior dominated by an airy central atrium.
The Lutine Bell was salvaged from the wrecked British warship Lutine in 1799, and is rung annually on Remembrance Day as well as to mark tragedies
Atrium is more than 60m high and features a glass barrel-vaulted roof, painted steel latticed roof, and glass barrel-vaulted roofing that bathes the Underwriting Room with natural light during trading hours.
Most of Lloyd’s business is transacted in the expansive central Underwriting Room, where brokers bring insurance risks for Lloyd’s underwriters to evaluate, price and accept those risks at their ‘boxes’ – so called by Edward Lloyd when he first began to rent out table space in his coffee shop.
Dominating the ground floor of the Room sits the Rostrum, an altar-like mahogany structure designed by Sir Edwin Cooper for the 1928 Lloyd’s building.
On the 11th floor, you will find the Committee Room. Also known as the Adam Room. This room was salvaged from an old country home.
Inside the Rostrum hangs the Lutine Bell, salvaged from the lost HMS Lutine which sank in 1799 carrying £1m in gold and silver bullion insured by Lloyd’s.
Historically, a ship’s bell rings out when another ship goes missing; once for a lost ship and twice for her return.
The Committee Room is located on the 11th Floor. This 18th century dining room was originally designed by Robert Adam and built for him in 1763.
Source: Lloyd’s