Meridian Block

01 / The problem

A cast-concrete office elevation stepped to hold afternoon shade across its west face.

The site faces almost due west, which meant the west elevation would take full afternoon load for eight months of the year. Rather than solve that with glass specification alone, the facade steps back floor by floor so each slab edge shades the storey below it. The step is structural, not applied — it is the frame doing the shading, which is why it costs nothing to maintain.