Bracken House, the home of The Financial Times was also Capisco’s first intervention in a major architectural work. We are proud of how the bronze elements have performed over the years and it is exemplary of how a low-intervention maintenance plan can keep a facade looking optimal from year-to-year.

The original building was completed in 1958 by Sir Albert Richardson to serve as the headquarters and printing works of the Financial Times, on a cleared bomb site southeast of St Paul's Cathedral.

The central part of the building was substantially altered to plans by Michael Hopkins and Partners between 1988 and 1992. The façade of the new block comprises four-storey bays with frameless windows. These are supported by tripartite bronze castings resting on the piers of the stone plinth. The final finish these castings were deliberately left with the marks of the process showing.

Capisco began patination in 1989 off site at our works and at the foundry of J T Price. Capisco followed traditional techniques of to colour the bronze to a dark ‘antique’ bronze colour. The nearest code today is CAP1. The façade is made up of brass drawn tube, brass pressed panels and LG4 bronze casts. The support castings are over 3 tons each.

After refurbishments by John Robertson Architects, the Financial Times moved back into Bracken House in spring 2019. John Robertson Architects retained and refurbished all the major architectural elements of Bracken House in 2019 - including a maintenance inspection and necessary remedial works by Capisco.

Listed Grade II in 1987, Bracken House was upgraded to Grade II* listed in 2013.

Capisco has regularly inspected the façade most providing annual reports. We have been requested to provide regular bronze maintenance interventions in 2013, 2019, 2023. For these we employ a team of abseilers to keep the upper levels tidy, while we work from scaffold towers to provide any remedial works required for the high-traffic areas below. The results speak for themselves - a well maintained facade that after 30 years still looks fresh.