Named in reference to its hull-like profile, the Ark was designed by architect Ralph Erskine, for Swedish developers Ake Larson and Pronator.

Erskine, based in Sweden, worked from a small office in collaboration with other trusted architects in order to retain design freedom.

Owing to the difficult economic circumstances at the time, Ake Larson's UK division did not survive to occupy the building.

Drinks company Seagram subsequently occupied the Ark from 1996 until it was bought by Vivendi Universal in 2000.

The ensuing £20 million conversion was carried out by DN-A architects, comprising the stripping out of the central “village” and connecting walkways which spanned the atrium and the floorplates filled in creating two smaller atriums turning “the doughnut plan into a pretzel” in the words of DN-A director Stuart McLarty.