5 Broadgate

[1][2] It is notable for its unique smooth steel façade with horizontal, diagonal, and vertical strips of windows, designed to look like an engine block.

[3] According to The Independent, the UBS Cleaning Academy ensured that the washrooms were durable enough to withstand emotional outbursts by traders.

[3] 5 Broadgate was designed to be environmentally friendly and has received a BREEAM Excellent rating, placing it in the "top 10% of UK new non-domestic buildings".

[6][12][13] In March 2022, CK Asset sold 5 Broadgate to the National Pension Service of Korea and LaSalle Investment Management for about £1.21 billion, amid rising demand for office space in London.

[15] When the deal was first reported by Bloomberg in December 2021, soon after it had been agreed, it allegedly valued 5 Broadgate at £1.25 billion, surpassing competing bids by Bright Ruby Resources, a company owned by Chinese billionaire Du Shuanghua, and Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

[19][20] UBS had initially announced their intention to sublet two floors at £75 per square foot in July 2022, as hybrid working policies had left large amounts of office space unused.

[21] Grant Thornton will move its UK headquarters from their current location at 30 Finsbury Square to 5 Broadgate, a distance of around 300 meters, "from mid to late 2024 onwards".

[19][22] In a 2011 review for The Guardian, Rowan Moore criticised the design of 5 Broadgate for failing to blend in with its surroundings, calling it "an aloof fortress that ignores its responsibilities to the wider community", "defensive-aggressive", and an "expression of power".

However, Merrick acknowledges that the demolition of two existing buildings and their replacement with the massive steel facade of 5 Broadgate was controversial.