The redevelopment of Paddington Basin is a welcome boost for an area that has been criminally overlooked in the last couple of decades when the popular notion of regeneration was being bandied about London. Any area that benefits from a waterway always has the potential to scrub up quite nicely and so it is with the Basin project which will create 2 million sq ft of offices, homes, shops and leisure uses. The next project due for completion in spring is Waterside, designed by Richard Rogers Partnership, which will be home to the new headquarters for Marks and Spencer. Work has begun on the final phase of the currently planned commercial element of the development - the Grand Union Building.

Grand Union, also designed by Richard Rogers Partnership, will be the tallest building in Paddington Waterside and a landmark for the regeneration of the area. A public viewing gallery at the top of the building will provide sensational views across London. Six distinct, but interconnected, commercial buildings climb to 28 storeys and provide approximately 650,000 sq ft of offices. The plans also include four linked residential buildings rising to 14 storeys which will provide 268 new homes - 81 of which will be affordable homes. Grand Union Building will also be home to an exciting mix of retail, leisure and community facilities including outdoor performance space and an Opportunity Centre.

The infrastructure around the basin is due to be completed during 2004 and will include three new bridges, permanent towpaths and temporary boardwalks to allow pedestrian access to the complete perimeter of the basin.

The Point is the first major building completed under Farrell's 1996 Basin masterplan which, unfortunately, is currently lying dormant after communications giant Orange shied away from taking up occupancy themselves (they are however, under contract to sub-let the property themselves). When viewed from the outside, The Point is less than impressive: a medium rise building that gets lost in its claustrophobic setting. There was, according to Farrell however, only so much they could do: "It might be thought that the form of The Point is derived from the plan of a ship, as it comprises two culminating curves on two sides with the third side squared off. In fact the plan is purely an extrusion of the constraints of the site, the curves being defined by the towpath edge and the pedestrian flow lines coming off the new footbridge as it approaches North Wharf road."

It is the breathtaking 11-storey atrium space that is the real star of the show however. During the day, the glass skin creates superb daylighting well into the lower floors. At night it is lit from various floor levels with recessed directional downlighters. These are directed into the atrium through the glass walls. "The themes established by the brise-soleil (maximum transparency, minimum hanging structure) extend into the atrium with its tensile, cable glazed roof - used her for the first time in the UK. The atrium also incorporates ten hanging glass bridges linking the lifts to the floorplates."

Giles Martin of Terry Farrell & Partners asked Erco to get involved in this Design & Build project by preparing a scheme and computer presentation for them to present to their client for the specialist areas (ie the atrium, atrium roof, lift lobbies, entrance foyer, entrance canopy and exterior architectural lighting).

Working closely with M&E Battle McCarthy and Farrell, Erco used Photoshop and Dialux to quickly and cost effectively visualise these areas. This convinced the developer Chelsfield and potential tenant Orange to progress the scheme.

The atrium floor was innovatively and cost effectively lit from high level through glass from easily accessible, low glare, recessed directional Lightcast metal halide fittings including emergency versions. The atrium roof used close offset narrow beam low cost TM projectors to wash the roof nodes without any reflection of the source in the glass ceiling.

There was a requirement to evenly uplight the ground floor overhang canopy without light spill. This was achieved from the mesh walkway beneath using IP65 Tesis metal halide floor uplights. These are low glare so as not to distract from the lit surfaces. The adjacent columns were effectively featured using low glare IP65 downlights two for each co

lumn. The entrance canopy area was lit with IP65 downlights for general ambience and to emphasise and scallop the glass wall without reflected glare from the light source.

Lift lobbies were lit with low glare CF downlights to emphasise the vertical planes and guide people around the space using Erco's 'hierarchy of perception' theory.

In terms of the bigger picture, Farrell is categorical about his company's role in the project: "The role of the masterplan is to create a framework of rules and ideas which can grow and develop over a period of often a decade or more without destroying the original concept and values. The core values of our 1996 masterplan for rejuvenating Paddington Basin are threefold: