70-72 Broadwick Street

The extensive redevelopment and repositioning of 70-72 Broadwick Street forms a major urban block at the junction of Carnaby and Broadwick Street that provides a range of uses, including offices, restaurants, a gym, retail and nine residential apartments. The design responds to the notion of Soho as a lively, dense, complex and truly urban district, so we have improved both the quality of facilities and the external presentation of this important urban block. Our key moves for the six-storey building on an island site of 0.5 acres have involved retaining the mixed-use nature of the building at ground and first floors, whilst introducing a new gym, office space and residential apartments across the upper storeys. We led the interior design and fit-out for The Carnaby Club – a new, private office suite. Here, the interior design takes inspiration from the bold and rebellious fashion legacy of Carnaby Street, reflected through the use of tactile materials and honest textiles with an emphasis on bespoke design pieces that prioritise natural materials and tones. The design was developed in close collaboration with the client and involved the testing of various layouts through a series of workshops. These highlighted the need for longevity, future flexibility, and sustainable design choices that matched the future requirements of today’s businesses as well as current working patterns. The main office floor reflects a desire to create a space that fosters a post-pandemic, hybrid workplace. This was primarily achieved by intensive, pre-construction space planning, resulting in a variety of layouts that can be easily adopted. Flexible breakout spaces are intermingled within the plan to allow for internal events and meetings achieved by flexible partitions, moving curtains and rearranging loose furniture. Across the main office, huddle spaces are conceived as informal places for brief, impromptu meetings. They are bordered by sheer curtains which provide visual privacy and acoustic buffering, which are placed throughout the main office floor. The project follows WELL principles that encourage sustainable practices, health and wellbeing in the workplace. These are deeply embedded into the design through a range of spaces and extend to building services and materials and finishes that reflect a commitment to natural elements. At the top of the building, we have created 15 one- and two-bedroom furnished loft apartments. These sit beneath the pitched volumes of the roof that rise and fall to create a new roof profile. Conceived as the ‘crown’ to the building, the new bronze-coloured roof extends to cover terraces dedicated to office tenants which provide panoramic views across Soho. The terraces act as both a breakout space for staff and for social events with a club theme achieved through eclectic furniture and colour that includes built-in joinery bench seating and lightweight lounge furniture. Planters and green roofs improve biodiversity whilst the planting is pollinator-friendly and adheres to Westminster City Council’s ‘Wild West End’ requirements.