The US embassy in London promises to be revolutionary -PHOTOS

The new building housing the US embassy in London promises to be revolutionary, promoting diplomacy through architecture. Designed by the firm Kieran Timberlake, the building is set to reflect the core values of democracy, transparency, openness, and equality. Staff are expected to move in later this year.

The United States decided to build a new embassy after the current location proved to be insufficient for the workflow and the security concerns of the modern age. But the State Department asked not only for a safe and functional building but also for a architecture concept that will give the best that America has to offer in term of design, construction, enterprise and culture.

It also stated that the new structure should take into consideration the idea of diplomacy through architecture and also the special relationship between the US and the United Kingdom.

In 2008, the US announced the purchase of a site in the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth and later this year staff will already be moving to the new location.

The firm behind the concept, Kieran Timberlake, took the core values of democracy and tried to put them into architecture. This is how they ended up with a chancery building that is a transparent, crystalline cube designed to afford generous daylight and views.

The high-performance building façade uses multiple-layer laminated glazing with an outer envelope of ETFE to screen excessive solar gain and glare while allowing a uniform distribution of daylight.

The envelope also mitigates wind downdrafts, improving the comfort of the landscaped plazas and walkways below. Like the landscape, the chancery is designed to be visually engaging while imperceptibly integrating security measures.

“The design for the new embassy seeks a holistic fusion of urbanism, building, and landscape.” the company says on its website. The building will be “evocative and performative, helping to define a new environment for diplomacy while mapping a passage toward a new diplomacy of the environment.”

The building is set to be carbon neutral, with photovoltaic panels will be used as an effective, low maintenance method to produce electricity on site reflecting the environmental friendly policies. Also, a biomass fueled Combined Heating-Power system will serve the embassy and be linked into a district heating scheme providing heat to the surrounding community. A special concern was given to water efficiency and to the ways of limiting the demand on the municipal wastewater system.

The structure will also feature a bomb-proof exterior to protect against any eventual attacks.

But the crystal cube was not well received by all as the price tag, set at approximately $1 billion, has angered some Republican Congressmen.

The embassy in London, set to become operational this year, is not the only new US embassy. According to CNN, in April, Thom Mayne, a Californian architect, broke ground on a new American embassy compound in Beirut while Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, known for their minimalist designs, have designed a new embassy to be built in Mexico City. The new embassy compound in Maputo, Mozambique is nearly finished and Jeanne Gang just won the design for the diplomatic building in Brazil’s capital.

The new buildings are part of a government program launched back in 2011 which set a new US paradigm in embassy design.