Oak Cancer Centre
The Oak Cancer Centre is a new clinical care and research centre for the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust’s Sutton hospital campus. The Royal Marsden Hospital opened in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to cancer diagnosis, treatment, research, and education. The Oak Cancer Centre, named after the Oak Foundation, which donated £25 million to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity’s Oak Cancer Centre fundraising appeal, will enable clinicians to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage and will help accelerate the development of new cancer treatments, offering hope for cancer patients worldwide. The building has also been designed with the very clear intent of aiming to enhance patients’ experiences while undergoing treatment. The new building for the world-renowned specialist cancer hospital is located adjacent to the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), The Royal Marsden’s principal academic partner. The Oak Cancer Centre is an integral component of the new ‘London Cancer Hub’, an emerging ‘knowledge cluster’, which will become a global leader for cancer research, treatment, and innovation. Carefully considered clinical design has created a blend of world-leading cancer research space, bringing together researchers in the Kuok Research Centre with outpatient and day treatment activity, including 66 chemotherapy treatment bays in the Olayan Day Care Unit and the new Charles Wolfson Rapid Diagnostic Centre. Using the very latest technology, the new Charles Wolfson Rapid Diagnostic Centre will enable earlier, faster diagnosis for more people, enhancing outcomes. The Kuok Research Centre brings together more than 400 scientists and researchers in a space designed specifically to encourage collaboration at the very heart of the building. The design deliberately embraces the visibility and transparency of this vital work to provide a reassuring presence and a real sense of progress and advancement for those being treated. The site selected for the construction of the new OCC is located in the centre of the existing RMH campus which has developed in a piecemeal fashion since the first building was constructed in the 1960’s. The site location whilst currently tucked away with limited presence from the public realm is strategically well located as it is at the very heart of the London Cancer Hub masterplan. As the site was not deemed as sensitive from a Town planning perspective due to the distance from the predominantly residential wider context and the poor quality of the existing estate, the London Borough of Sutton planning team unusually actively encouraged the project team to increase the height of the proposal to fulfil the site’s development potential. This prompted the hospital Trust to agree to integrate additional future envisaged administrative space requirement into the brief to help address this.
Rose Court
BDG architecture and design was appointed by WPP to reimagine a tired government building on London’s South Bank. The new campus is now home to multiple creative agencies, boasts impressive rooftop views of the city and sits above the subterranean remains of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre. Completed in December 2022, the project included a complete renewal of facade, additional floors to include a significant roof terrace and incorporating a signature circular staircase that mirrors the remains of the original theatre, which can be found in the basement of the building. This is the latest in a series of schemes which has seen BDG breathe new life into redundant industrial and commercial buildings; factories, telephone exchanges and warehouse to name a few, creatively adding value and avoiding the high environmental cost of wasteful demolition and new build. The 1980s structure and post-modern facade were lost in the historic mercantile and arts district between Borough Market and Tate Modern. WPP saw the potential of this location as part of London’s rapidly expanding ‘Creative Mile’ and employed BDG as lead designer. This is the latest in a series of schemes which has seen BDG breathe new life into redundant industrial and commercial buildings; factories, telephone exchanges and warehouse to name a few, creatively adding value and avoiding the high environmental cost of wasteful demolition and new build.
Maple House
Designed for the furniture empire Maples during the 1970s, Maple House on Tottenham Court Road is one of Richard Seifert’s least-known buildings. A vast, granite-clad structure covering an entire city block, it had showrooms in a ground floor podium with blocks of offices and residential apartments above. Since Maples folded in 1997, new retailers have moved into the ground floor, and one block has been connected by bridge to the adjacent hospital for NHS use. Our client, Lazari Investments, was interested in the building’s modernist heritage and wanted to explore how the appeal of the under loved building and its external spaces could be improved. In response, we focused on the health, wellbeing and sustainability agendas, embracing its brutal style. The Phase 1 interventions have reimagined the office entrance and common parts, and stripped back and re-serviced four of the office floors to CAT A, and one to CAT B, revealing light-filled spaces. We have introduced end-of-journey facilities and inserted an ‘urban forest’ into the vast podium courtyard. Planted in the podium courtyard, a fifth elevation overlooked by both offices and apartments, the urban forest is perhaps the building’s greatest amenity, capturing a sense of nature within the dense urban block. The natural layers of mature trees and forest floor contrast with a manufactured layer of café pavilions and access gantries that wind through the landscape. Phase 2 introduces further amenities for the offices. Redundant plant space at eighth floor is converted into a club space, including a library and winter garden. Upper roof spaces are re-purposed to provide generous social terraces. The scheme features alternative uses such as a wellbeing studio, auditorium, events space and bar, improving the building’s overall offer.
Wimbledon House
A generous brick villa nestles into a sloping site in leafy Wimbledon, with a closed street elevation to the north-east, and a more open and tiered garden side to the south-west. A significant slope enables the house to be entered on the middle floor, into the front-of-house spaces: hall and cloakroom, two workspaces, two guest suites, and a dramatic bridge connection to formal living space on the garden side of the house, with views out towards the river and Hampton Court. From the entry floor, you move down to informal living spaces, or up to the more private world of family bedrooms. All three floors are linked by connecting voids, double and triple height as well as a central staircase. Spaces are generous and, despite the formal composition of the house, deliberately flexible to allow the way the house is used to adapt as the family grows. The client’s original brief – for a traditional four-square plan and pitched roof – was challenged by the local authority’s DRP, which called for a more ambitious and modern villa, despite the location in the Wimbledon West Conservation Area. This pivotal moment in the project design process led us to a more ambitious and contemporary design, capable of responding better to the long, thin site. The house is tall, light and airy inside, while from the outside it is a deliberately solid brick volume, with a composition of glazed openings to the south-east elevation, and a series of generous terraces facing to the garden, which is home to a retained and venerable sweet-chestnut tree. Unlike the change in architectural arrangement, the client’s brief for a cool, robust and simple building was consistent from the outset. Fed up with overheating problems in their previous house, and the restless nights with their three children, the family asked for a building with lots of natural ventilation. The resulting design includes night-time purge cooling, with intake via ventilation panels secure behind hit-and-miss brick elevations, stack effect using the internal voids and the stair, and a large rooflight for hot air to exhaust at high level. High levels of insulation (to solid and glazed elements) reduce daytime heat gain in summer months, and the overall design has resulted in a low-energy, low-maintenance building. Provision was made for future installation of external blinds and awnings to the south-east and south-west facades, but this has not proven necessary in practice, despite one hot summer since completion. Conceived in 2014, constructed from 2017, and completed in 2021, the design process considered embodied carbon less objectively than it would be the case today. A sign of how fast we are moving towards a low-carbon future, though many of the ambitions of 2015 still apply: for a long-life, loose-fit home to be used in different ways by different generations, but with equal happiness over time.
Corner to Corner
Four pavilions frame the corners of Grosvenor Square in London, transforming its character whilst preserving its essential qualities. Grosvenor Square occupies an iconic position at the heart of Mayfair, one of London’s most desirable places to live, work or visit. The four garden pavilions are constructed in the spaces of the former ring roads around the central gardens. They enliven the Square and provide clear and welcoming points of entry. Currently, the limited activation of the Square detracts from its character, creating a somewhat reserved and forbidding space. The four proposed pavilions balance the benefits of activation with preservation of the existing Square’s significant cultural, historical and heritage importance. The pavilions are conceived as integral to, and growing from, the landscaped perimeter boundary of the central gardens. At night they complete the enclosure of the space, controlling access out of hours. They are visible on the lines of approach to the Square, marking clear gateways to welcome visitors to the Square. The pavilions will provide a varied programme of events, activities and public facilities to nourish, educate, and entertain. Their ethos is inclusive and diverse, seeking to encourage locals and residents to come, to stay and to return. 1. The Café, North-East Pavilion, Coffee Corner The café provides a welcoming gateway to visitors offering a range of organic produce partially sourced from the glasshouse on the opposite side of the square. The café activates the eastern edge of the square balancing the new facilities that are proposed within 30 Grosvenor Square to the west. The cafe is articulated into two wings that frame an entrance to the Square. One, providing seating, looks into the Square, where visitors sit with south-facing aspect across the gardens. The other wing faces outwards and functions as a kiosk that can operate even when the Square itself is closed at night. 2. The Hub, South-East Pavilion, Research Corner The Hub provides a flexible space for events, exhibitions and seminars on the theme of urban ecology and sustainability. Its location on the south-east of the Square facing lines of approach from Berkeley Square links the programme to the wider cultural offer around the Royal Academy and the Mayfair galleries. The Hub’s flexibility and changing programme of events will provide an ongoing attractor drawing visitors of all ages and origins to the Square. 3. The Glasshouse, South-West Pavilion, Growing Corner The Glass House on the sunny south-west corner will provide a base for horticulture across the Square. The landscaping of the central gardens will preserve its generous lawns but look to enrich the perimeter planting to enhance biodiversity. Traditional orangeries are planned with heavy walls to the north, set behind glazed south-facing elevations. The re-radiation of light at lower frequencies from the backing wall is captured by the glazing, warming the interior to provide conditions to grow exotic plants such as pineapples and citrus fruit. The Glass House is planned on similar principles to create a lush verdant environment for planting. The Glass House will be an educational resource, hosting school visits with programmed activities extending out into the Square itself. Plants will be available for sale and seasonal produce grown within the Glass House will also supply the cafe on the opposite side of the Square. 4 The Auditorium, North-West Pavilion, Performance Corner An open-air amphitheatre canopied by a tensile fabric roof is set at the north-west corner of the Square facing towards the gardens. This venue will host a variety of events and performances offering a rich cultural programme to animate the Square.
Oriel
Oriel–designed by AECOM, Penoyre & Prasad and White Arkitekter–is a new home for the Moorfields Eye Hospital, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Charity. It takes a radical approach to the integration of sight related care, research and education to drive innovation and speed up the translation of research findings into treatment. Enabling a seamless collaboration between clinicians, patients and researchers, the building will provide a flexible and adaptable armature to facilitate future evolution in clinical care and research practice and strengthen both Moorfields’ position as a world-leading eye hospital and reinforce the Institute’s capacity to deliver globally-networked, cutting-edge research. The innovative design centres on people, creating the best possible patient and user experience. Three concepts underpin the design: • A new public realm that welcomes everyone into the building’s heart, reinforcing Oriel’s civic presence and sense of place. • A place of collaboration, facilitating chance encounters and serendipitous ‘water cooler’ moments. • An adaptive building that provides flexibility to shifting and disruptive technologies that will change the nature of education, research and healthcare in the future. The site is located within the Kings Cross St Pancras Conservation Area, a sensitive and fine-grained neighbourhood undergoing rapid change. Through its carefully articulated massing and finely detailed elevations, Oriel responds to the existing heritage buildings on the site and St Pancras Gardens to the south, while recognising the emerging denser developments to the north and east. At the heart of Oriel is the atrium, a tall, naturally daylit space forming a new living room for the city and containing the public facing facilities – education, café, exhibition, and support services. Rising up through the atrium is the ‘oriel’, a stack of multi-level platforms and semi-enclosed spaces that form the spatial embodiment of Oriel’s integration and interaction. Embracing the atrium are two boomerang-shaped wings containing the main functional content – education, research and clinical spaces, blended vertically in such a way to maximise cross-disciplinary collaboration. Designed to circular economy principles, the flexible floorplates, optimal floor-to-floor heights and strategic servicing strategy enable the building to flex and adapt over time. Optimised for thermal performance, daylighting and unitisation, the materiality and composition of the façade both reflects and contrasts with the site context - bronzed aluminium fins and louvres, and ceramic tiles, articulated with undulating ribbing, reflect the colour of the adjacent Victorian brickwork and the traditional faience detailing, while the light colour, curtain walling and articulation offsets this contemporary insertion in the historic context. Internally, the atrium and Oriel are inspired by light, modern and transparent design. Working closely with White Arkitekter, we developed a palette of natural materials, internal planting and good acoustics to create a high quality and sophisticated interior promoting Oriel’s civic mission while contributing to the health and wellbeing of the building users.
University of Roehampton Library
The new library at the University of Roehampton is the centrepiece of an ambitious campus masterplan and characterised by a generous park and garden landscape that makes it unique among London’s universities. The library creates a new identity for the University, addressing the entrance to the campus as well as connecting the Digby Stuart and Southlands Colleges, and facing a new landscape and existing ornamental lake. The University’s brief was to provide a library building with gravitas and longevity; a building of books and study and whose design reflects this interest in the serious investigation of learning. The aspiration was for an enduring architecture, and this is achieved through a clear architectural language; the colonnade activating the landscape and lake, the piano nobile floors and deeply recessed upper storey. This is continued with a simple palette of high quality materials; externally focussed around masonry and reveal, internally a weaving of expressed pre-cast concrete structure and oak linings. The four Colleges of the University have a distinguished history, particularly in the field of childhood studies, theology and education, and the library houses their collection of over 300,000 volumes. The new library delivers over 1,000 study spaces, staff support and work areas, specialist digitisation and collection management over five floors and 7,840sqm. It delivers a number of specialist functions focussed around the University’s education and teaching, and celebrates the rich history of the four Colleges that form the University through fixed exhibition spaces. Study spaces within the library are intended to support a variety of group sizes and work intensities, from individual silent study to medium sized group collaboration, while making use of visual connections to the garden landscape. Internally the building is arranged around large and small atrium spaces that allow the spaces to interconnect in a clear, intuitive way. The building also has a ground floor café that allows for more relaxed breakout study environment that faces onto the landscape and lake. This is a building that celebrates the process of finding and taking the book to the study space and to the light. With the books occupying the core of the main library volume the study spaces are arranged to take in the light and view, and in particular they wrap around the various atria that weave through the building. These study desks have proven to be very popular and demonstrate the relevance of high quality spaces to this library environment. Sustainability University of Roehampton library is designed to be a passive building in energy and comfort terms, with highly insulated facades, high levels of airtightness and roofs supported by a thermally activated building slab (TABS) system installed into the concrete soffits. The building also has a roof-mounted 3.5kW photovoltaic array and connection to a combined heat and power unit that also supplies the neighbouring Elm Grove residential and conference centre. Coupled with envelope performance that exceeded 2013 building regulations by over 25%, the building achieved an airtightness of 1.3mm3/m2@50PA. The TABS system utilises embedded cooling pipes into the precast concrete soffits to improve the thermal mass cooling capability, and further extend the cooling season. This is particularly relevant as summer temperatures are expected to increase both in peaks and longevity over the next 30-50 years. The precast concrete soffits are a major architectural element of the building, and it was important to imbue them with a role that underpinned the passive environmental design. The building also engages passive measures of orientation, with increased areas of glazing to the East and reduced areas to the West. The service areas of the building are located on the West façade, further reducing the potential for overheating. Study, seminar and work spaces along the West elevation also include user-controllable opening vents to address issues of comfort. Future flexibility The aspiration of the University of Roehampton from the outset was for a library that would be the core of their campus for 100+ years, and as a result the design team explored with them the possibilities of future library use. One key model that was considered was that of a future library with fewer books, and the possibilities in a building that could respond to more users accessing content without physical copies. In practical terms this means more study and reference spaces and a greater density of occupants, so the building was sized in key areas, such as stair core widths, so that occupancies to each floor could be increased as the numbers of books reduced. Allowances have been made for further mobile bookstacks, which can increase the density of books stored in a space compared with traditional racking. The intention is that the library is able to grow and change with developments in how libraries are seen and accessed by both staff and students, and genuinely be a building with longevity and flexibility. Prefabrication on an active campus A key part of the project was the extensive use of prefabricated elements, which was particularly relevant and successful given the library’s location at the centre of an active campus. Use of prefabrication at the library enabled a shortened site construction period, reduced disruption to the surrounding University and improvements in finish quality. The project utilised pre-cast concrete for both the primary structural frame and external cladding, and large parts of the internal timber linings. The continuous pre-cast structural frame define the internal character of the new library, the soffit is intentionally left clear to allow the thermally active slab to absorb excess heat from the space. The soffit panels were to a bespoke design that allowed a close integration of services, including the TABS cooling pipework and a highly flexible routing for lighting and other soffit-mounted services. The design took these services elements made them a vital part of the expression of the soffit, and benefitted strongly from the precision and quality control from off-site manufacture.
Ark Evelyn Grace Academy
Ark Evelyn Grace Academy is a non-selective, coeducational secondary school in Brixton, in the London borough of Lambeth. The Academy is a member of Ark, a multi-academy trust with schools across England. The Academy opened in September 2008 in temporary accommodation admitting its first 180 pupils in year 7. In September 2010 the academy moved to a new purpose-built school building as it admitted its third year 7 year group. The building, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, was awarded the 2011 Stirling Prize.
Arding & Hobbs
Site Description Arding & Hobbs is located at 315-325 Lavender Hill within Clapham Junction Town Centre (herein referred to as the Site). The Site comprises the former Arding and Hobbs Department Store which until recently was occupied by Debenhams. The Site occupies a prominent position within the Town Centre and is located within the Core Shopping Frontage on the corner of Lavender Hill and St Johns Road. Ilminster Gardens is located to the rear of the Site and is characterised by a residential use. The Site is currently serviced from Ilminster Gardens. The building on the Site is a key Local Landmark building and is Grade II Listed. The Site forms a central part of the Clapham Junction Conservation Area. The Site has a Public Transport Accessibility Level of 6B, with Clapham Junction Station being located across from the Site. N.B Whilst TK Maxx are located within the building over part of lower ground, part of ground and part of the first floor, they do not form part of this application. TK Maxx will be remaining within the building. Proposed Development The existing building is currently vacant following the departure of Debenhams from the building. With a new chapter opening for the structure a fresh vision has been developed which includes a comprehensive programme of restoration and the introduction of new town centre uses to bring the building back into viable service. It is proposed to introduce flexible retail and leisure spaces at the ground and lower ground floors (Classes A1/A3/A4/D2) to maintain active frontages in this busy shopping and travel hub. Over the remaining parts of the building it is proposed to introduce an office use (Class B1), with new ground floor entrance on St John Street. It is also proposed to create a new two storey rooftop extension which will create additional office space (herein referred to as the Proposed Development). Several the original historic features will be refurbished and restored. It is proposed to re-instate the original ground floor shopfronts. This would be achieved through the removal of the non-original canopy which currently has a negative impact on the existing building. Other restoration elements include the opening up and refurbishment of the original windows which are currently blocked up internally. It is also proposed to clean and restore the brickwork, with refurbishment works to an original stairwell. The historic glass dome on the third floor is proposed to be restored and displayed within a new high-quality enclosure. The existing Cupola, which is currently in an unusable state is proposed to be integrated into the new office space. The proposed roof pavilion extension will consist of a curved façade with a pleated plan view, designed to reflect the dominant characteristics of the existing Grade II Listed Building, while offering a contemporary take on the design. The Proposed Development includes an office amenity space, provided in the form of a roof top terrace on the fourth floor. A number of improvements to the façade along Ilminster Gardens are proposed to improve the overall visual appearance of the building and the public realm. Servicing of the building remains on Ilminster Gardens.
The Department Store
A dilapidated Edwardian department store in London has been entirely reimagined to allow the existing fabric and layers of history to inform the new design. Collaborating with craftspeople and furniture makers, the restored building provides an array of spaces for the various design disciplines within the architecture & design practice. Stripping the building back to its raw state revealed a decayed grandeur and an extraordinary commitment to craft and detail by the original artisans. The practice sought to reveal and highlight these elements – in their found state – as well as exposing remnants left by more recent inhabitants, whilst adding a series of contemporary interventions in order to repurpose the building as an inspiring modern workspace. On the exterior, design solutions focussed on reversing years of neglect to reactivate the street level. Incrementally added shopfronts and layers of paint were removed to reveal original brickwork, stone, marble and terracotta. A grand mahogany central stair was revealed when an existing lift shaft was removed, uncovering original elements such as decorative metalwork, carved mahogany handrails and green patterned tiles. These were restored and a new hovering brass handrail added to meet current Building Regulations. A new rooftop level was added to provide a 5,000sqft restaurant and bar space for the staff and public for dining, socialising and events. The dramatic space is constructed of green oak frame with coffered ceilings rising to frameless rooflights. The bar is a continuous run of untreated pewter, high solid oak tables provide a relaxed area socialising, partnered with black timber Ercol bar stools and the lounge area is marked by a full height copper clad wall and two silk/wool rugs created by Laguna using Eley Kishimoto’s a pattern derived from an existing glass rooflight. Lounge seating includes a large Minotti Freeman sofa, and ottomans by Carl Hansen, and solid oak hourglass shaped stools by Benchmark. Large doors allow access to a south-facing terrace and the tower, a new private dining space beneath a modern glass dome. At ground level a striking reception area and active modelshop animate the street, while a triple height void and central landscaped courtyard provide breathing space. Original Burmese teak flooring dating from 1906 was revealed and restored, complemented by two handmade rugs by Laguna, which feature patterns designed by Brixton based designers Eley Kishimoto following explorations into motifs found within the original building. A collection of furniture documents design classics produced throughout the lifespan of The Department Store from 1906 to the 1950’s, including Klint Addition sofas with personalised bronze plaques which were revived from the Carl Hansen archives and a Knoll daybed by Mies van der Rohe. Mixed with these classics is an antique display case sourced from specialist furniture company D&A Binder, and two green Munna Babe armchairs. A 6.5m long bespoke reception desk, conceived as a haberdashery display, was created in collaboration with specialist cabinet makers Interior iD and material artists Based Upon. A series of Tramazite panels - a unique resin/metal composite – are encased within a mahogany frame to create a showcase with an evolving display related to current projects within the office Generous social event spaces are at lower ground floor, along with cycle storage, changing rooms and showers, with workspaces on first to third floors supported by a series of breakout areas. Meeting spaces are primarily located within the nose of the building, and on each annex level to the rear. The overriding concept was to reveal the raw spaces of each room – which vary from hammered and sandblasted brick, to plasterwork and elaborate mouldings – and then add discrete servicing within a suspended ceiling raft, and AV hidden within a bespoke credenza. A series of unique credenzas were developed with specialist joinery company Interior iD, to find modern uses for heritage materials such as burr walnut, or methods such as herringbone marquetry. The decorative doors conceal AV equipment and tea and coffee supplies. The office floors reveal the facets of design undertaken by the practice and expose the process of craft and making. Project areas are designed to act as evolving ‘concessions’ - temporary showcases to the process of design and development. Models, prototypes and explorations document and celebrate a projects journey from concept to realisation. Multiple areas for presentation can be found throughout the office with display cases, shelving, libraries for materials and books, models and explorative studies. Informal meeting areas are provided in every team to encourage communication and mutual support. Collaborating with south London joinery company Opus Magnum, the practice developed a bespoke furniture system led by storage needs. Desking is purpose made in birch faced ply with an individual drawer and matt black linoleum top. Above the desks on black steel frames, a series of high level display boxes allow for personalisation and decoration. Lighting in the workspaces combines a unique version of the Flos Running Magnet system with a bespoke BTC range of fluted glass spheres used as floor, pendant and wall lights. Additional lighting in meeting and breakout spaces include an exclusive limited edition range of Louis Poulson floor and table lights. Exposed services ensure that original ceilings and parquet floors could be revealed. Black and copper power/data cables travel through the building in suspended nickel mesh trays, which feed into copper pipes servicing workstations. Each office floor has a tea point, expressed as a copper lined box encased within a black ply storage wall. Informal tables and seating at tea points and on a series of external terraces encourage interaction between staff. In addition to workspaces for the architects, the practice also created spaces for a series of public uses including the Post Office, Kaboola Café, Pure Vinyl record shop and Canova Hall restaurant. Completed in June 2017, the building provides 6,147sqm of unique workspace along with event, retail and public spaces. Since moving in staff have commented on how the social spaces have changed the way they interact with their colleagues and encouraged them to make new connections, while locals have embraced the revitalisation of a local landmark.
Cromwell Place
The art market in London has enjoyed continued growth over the last five years, and there are now more than 250 galleries established in the capital’s West End. Cromwell Place is a first-of-its-kind arts space and membership model, with rentable exhibition space, office space, viewing rooms and art storage. The architectural challenge was to provide a space for this unique gallery concept within five Grade-II listed buildings dating from 1857-60, one of which was originally occupied by the celebrated Victorian portraitist Sir John Lavery. The existing building contained many outstanding period features, including original staircases with ironwork balustrades and curled timber handrails; original fireplaces, cornicing, ceiling roses and late Baroque-style mirrors in Sir John Lavery's former studio at No.5 Cromwell Place. As well as refurbishment works, the project involved the sensitive insertion of new, connected circulation spaces, including a new pavilion gallery and an underground art storage facility. Our key moves involved sensitively restoring the existing Grade-II listed buildings to provide thirteen gallery spaces that celebrate the period features throughout. We then deftly introduced new interventions including viewing rooms, secure and climate-controlled underground art storage and a large new pavilion gallery. Placed in the courtyard behind the main Cromwell Place terrace, this new pavilion creates a contrasting, contemporary viewing space - the largest of Cromwell Place’s galleries. A sawtooth roof punctuated with north lights sits above 140m2 of column-free space with floor-to-ceiling heights of up to 4.6 metres to create a world-class display area for major exhibitions. Overlooked from all angles, the roof is effectively the fifth elevation of the building. Its hipped rooflights allow north light into the galleries below, and the whole volume is clad in black metal with a textured finish. Alongside the public exhibition spaces which will occupy the lower floors, we have incorporated a secure, international-standard climate-controlled storage facility, administrative areas, and private viewing rooms to allow discreet meetings between galleries and collectors. The storage, packing, shipping and logistical facilities are a unique feature of Cromwell Place, and the only resource of its kind in central London. An experienced in-house team of art handlers will be available to install shows, arrange deliveries and organise packing. The thirteen period gallery spaces have been individually designed to maintain the personality and integrity of the original room, yet discreetly modified to suit the anticipated needs of our members. The qualities of Sir John Lavery’s workplace – interconnected spaces, tall windows, high ceilings and modulated natural light – required minimal intervention from us to convert them for contemporary use as a shared marketplace for the collective of gallery businesses.
Aylesham Centre
Peckham is a vibrant town centre with a rich mix of retail, creative, arts and cultural uses, but it is not immune to the high-street decline threatening towns and cities across the country. The Aylesham Centre lies at the heart of the town centre and has an important role to play in shaping and protecting Peckham’s future for generations to come. The scheme proposes to demolish the existing 1980’s mall, car park and petrol filling station and replace it with a new ground plane focused on a pedestrian retail environment that integrates public amenity, play space, an all-electric bus stand together with a new supermarket and bus interchange at its axis. Spreading out from these key routes are a network of groves, pockets and lanes that link into the surrounding conservation area increasing connections to the neighbourhood. Atop of this highly active ground plane sits approximately 950 new homes with courtyards and roof top amenity space. The inclusion of five additional architects and their differing approaches adds greater variety to the scheme, which, coupled with an ambitious approach to sustainability and urban greening makes this an exciting prospect for the future of Peckham.
Battersea Exchange
Battersea Exchange’s vision was to turn a divided, historically landlocked site into a vibrant well-connected community to live, learn and work. It creates 290 new homes – including a range of 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments, a new 2 form entry primary school and 4000m2 of commercial space for shops, offices and restaurants, as well as a new Queenstown Road Station entrance. The development is organised around new pedestrian-friendly public realm connecting Battersea Park and Queenstown Road Stations and linking existing residential communities with the new Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area. The masterplan established a variety of building scales from two up to eighteen storeys which respond to different contexts across the site. Battersea Exchange incorporates a varied palette of robust and elegant materials. The three ‘landmark’ tall elegant ceramic clad apartment buildings mark the rail frontages into Waterloo as well as the new public space fronting Battersea Park Station. The towers and linked school building use light crackle glazed terracotta with visual links to the fluted chimneys of Battersea power station just north of the development. The ‘warehouse’ typology buildings these run parallel along the viaducts using a dark crisp brick relating to the railway heritage in contrast with the white towers. Their form and length are broken by vertical slots, dividing and stepping the buildings. The third scale of building typologies are the ‘gatehouses’ these are in a creamy warm London stock palette of bricks inspired by the local masonry residential context. This stitches these buildings into the existing fabric, conservation areas and listed buildings context. All the scheme is connected by the pedestrian public street space with cafes, workplaces, start-up studios in refurbished viaduct arches which now link Battersea Park and Queenstown Road Stations. The main residential towers and school form a central urban block with school and early years centre entrances directly onto the new central square. The school is naturally ventilated with good daylight into ever space, the early years and junior teaching rooms open straight onto the courtyard playground. The school also benefits from multilevel external areas from the roof top multi-use game area to the terrace with a dramatic slide down into the school courtyard. The development provides extensive pedestrian links from east to west linking the new development to the local community and north to south between Battersea Park and Queenstown road train Stations and with a car free school entrance. Following the be lean, be clean, be green; the residential units are Code level 4, following the Code for Sustainable Homes, incorporating low energy MVHR, good fabric insulation and PV to roofs. The new build commercial and school are BREEAM ‘excellent’ with generous natural ventilation and daylight to all spaces in the school.
Gasholders London
King’s Cross is the largest urban development scheme in Europe, the rich industrial heritage of the area is integral to its renaissance. Among the most distinctive and beautiful features to be retained is the triplet of Grade II-Listed, cast iron gasholder guide frames which were originally constructed in 1867. The guide frames, including 123 columns, have been painstakingly restored by Shepley Engineers. Despite being over 150 years old, the triplet is in remarkably good condition, largely preserved from decay by 32 layers of paint. WilkinsonEyre won a design competition in 2002 with a concept for three residential buildings to be housed within the frames. The design proposed three drums of accommodation at differing heights to suggest the movement of the original gasholders, which would have risen up or down depending on the pressure of the gas within. A fourth, virtual drum shape, at the centre forms an open courtyard, celebrating the conglomeration of the structures at their point of intersection. The design was developed to create a dynamic counterpoint between old and new. The heavy industrial aesthetic and raw physical materiality of the guide frames contrasts with the lightness and intricacy of the interior spaces. The circular nature of the buildings result in apartments that are laid out to take advantage of natural daylighting, a ‘pie’ shaped configuration with expansive views. The structural grid is set out according to the diameter of each gasholder frame, with a variety of apartment types located around the perimeter of each volume. The structural columns and sheer walls are arranged radially, giving every unit a sense of the original curve structure of the building. The scheme provides 145 apartments with interior architecture by Jonathan Tuckey Design, a private gym, a spa, a business lounge and an entertainment suite. All apartments are accessed through a central courtyard, each drum with its own atrium and core. These are linked by a series of circular walkways which surround the courtyard, where light is reflected in a water feature. The light reflections from the pool will animate the space and be particularly effective when viewed from the elevated walkways that encircle the courtyard: the gas holder frames will seem to extend downward until they disappear from sight. Raised planters and sunken roof lights to the basement below will puncture this illusion. In another play of contrasts, the roofs are planted as gardens to bring nature to the urban landscape. Cladding is composed of modular vertical panels of steel and glass textured with a veil of shutters which can be opened or closed at a touch of a button, to give shade and privacy to the occupants. Designed for the busy urbanite, the apartments within incorporate innovative technologies that will allow the residents to alter, control and environmentally fine-tune the living spaces to suit their individual needs. All systems will close down when not in use, coming alive again at the touch of a smartphone. This project repurposes and celebrates the original gasholder guide frames, whilst providing exceptional, vibrant residential accommodation that will help to anchor the building in its new location. The renovation of this historically important structure and its integration with the public realm demonstrates a commitment to the regeneration and sustainability of the wider area. Designs utilise the building fabric to deliver a low energy building that maximises natural daylight and natural ventilation wherever possible. A combination of passive design features, highly efficient building services and a low carbon energy supply will deliver a building that will return a significant carbon saving – estimated to be 45%. The connection between Gasholders London its context is reinforced with a series of communal and private gardens, these sit on top and in between the buildings. Proposals for the public realm have similarly been designed to be sustainable including incorporation of thoughtful ecology, low energy LED lighting and sustainable paving materials. Planting features a mix of species to provide visitors with year-round interest; with vivid colours to striking seed heads, many of which are native, and are chosen to support pollinating insects. Gasholders London balances the functional requirements of modern living, whilst celebrating the character and form of the guide frames. The project responds to the wider industrial heritage, meeting the inherent constraints with imaginative design.
urbanest Battersea
Urbanest Battersea is a new high quality, highly sustainable development comprising of three student buildings, dedicated commercial building, public house, café and Enterprise Business Unit (EBU). It is the first Passivhaus student housing development in London and the largest Passivhaus certified building in the UK providing 852 rooms. Led by private student accommodation provider Urbanest, the development provides modern accommodation for 852 students in the heart of London and is the first major PassivHaus student housing development in London; PassivHaus buildings have high insulation, high air-tightness and ventilation with heat recovery to significantly reduce operational carbon and improve occupant comfort and health. Passivhaus buildings have high insulation, high airtightness and ventilation with heat recovery to significantly reduce operational carbon and improve occupant comfort and health. The new commercial building achieves BREEAM Outstanding and features Mace’s Low Carbon Cassette (LCC) construction system. Located on the south side of Battersea Park Road, opposite the new Battersea Power Station development, urbanest Battersea is a carefully designed development comprising of three student buildings and a dedicated commercial building. Ranging in height from 11 to 19 storeys, the four blocks step in height and twist to open to key views with a unifying base around courtyard gardens, creating a varied silhouette. Their glazed terracotta façades in a vibrant colour palette of red, green and blue draw on the industrial heritage of the site and provide a strong marker within the neighbourhood. Opened to students last September, urbanest Battersea features ensuite and studio accommodation and communal areas designed to bring students together. Amenities include a cinema room, gym, and roof terraces offering breathtaking views across the city. The site is heavily constrained due to significant underground utility tunnels on all four sides and proximity to two major railway lines. To maximize usable space while maintaining access to underground services, the buildings cantilever approximately 5 meters above these constraints, showcasing striking canted columns that contribute to a dynamic architectural identity and create additional sheltered space while enhancing the public realm. To further reduce embodied carbon the team applied Mace’s innovative off-site LCC technology to the new commercial building. The technology uses a Cemfree concrete and low energy, Electric Arc Furnace steel in cement-free concrete cassettes which reduces carbon and waste using prefabrication. This resulted in an approximate 10% reduction in structural steel and reduced the carbon on the floor plate by 45%. The optimized logistics reduced heavy goods vehicle deliveries by approximately 40% and nearly eliminated waste during construction. Using LCC and having a precast core allowed the concrete surfaces to be exposed, increasing the thermal mass of the building. urbanest Battersea stands as an industry-leading example of what can be achieve through collaboration and commitment to excellence. The project not only provides compelling architecture but also demonstrates sustainable construction, achieved through the combined expertise of urbanest, AHMM, Henriksen Studio and Mace.
King's Road
‘Drawing inspiration from the site’s former use as a botanical nursery, the King’s Road project is marked by a seemingly suspended garden box that punctuates a refined fluted brick façade. This glass menagerie, inspired by the 19th century Wardian plant cases and showcasing botanical curiosities, becomes a sustainable beacon for the Kings Road.’ The project is located on the famous King’s Road in London. The concept imagines an open, green, light-filled space based around a verdant central courtyard. The vision and aspiration for the project is to create a spectacular new mixed-use quarter on the King’s Road. A place that will contribute to ambience, employment, enterprise, and entrepreneurialism; a place where people can both shop and work, and which the local community can be proud to be a part of. A modern vision inspired by timeless heritage The design team drew on the heritage of the site and wider area as their starting point for creating a vision for the scheme. The proposal is designed with a dynamic courtyard at the centre and a terraced roofscape that steps down to sensitively address neighbouring properties behind. The proposal includes flexibly designed spaces that are suitable for a range of occupiers. Notwithstanding this, it is anticipated that the uses of each level would be as follows: Leisure at basement level; Retail, Restaurant and Leisure on the lower ground; Retail, Restaurant/Café and Office Lobbies on the ground floor; Retail/Restaurant and Office on the first floor and Office on the upper floors. The proposal was informed by four fundamental principles: 1. Being sensitive to the surroundings: this has been a constant priority during the design development, as demonstrated by the diagrams on the right. 2. The history of site and the wider King’s Road: both these elements played an essential role in the design process. To honour the site’s legacy, a thorough research into key historical moments has been weaved into the proposed scheme. 3. Future proofing the scheme: this became increasingly important in light of the COVID crisis, retail downturn challenges and changes in various sectors. 4. Sustainability: we have strived to design to an ambitious sustainability agenda and to deliver an exemplary scheme that will serve as a benchmark for future developments. Wellbeing in the city The wellbeing of the tenants has driven the design approach. A u-shaped footprint provides views into the courtyard, acting as a natural lightwell to be enjoyed by all visitors. Moreover, the Garden Box element to the north, between office wings, offers a sanctuary from a formal working environment and gives tenants access to natural plants integrated into balconies. In addition, through its glazed facade and roof, the Garden Box is sheltered from the elements but connected to the outside world through an open underside. Finally, the front facade features a carefully crafted fluted brickwork in light earth tones picking up cues from the surrounding area material palette. The design is achieved with the use of British Standard radial bricks and optimised for minimal wastage.
Vauxhall Square
Pilbrow & Partners’ reimagining of Vauxhall Square introduces a confident architectural composition, redefining London’s Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area. Three carefully articulated towers define access to richly landscaped central park, creating a civic heart that is as socially inclusive as it is ecologically diverse. This new urban quarter places landscape at its core. A public park acts as a green oasis and connector, forming the northern gateway to the emerging park that stretches to Battersea Power Station. The proposals enhance biodiversity, improve microclimate, and promote active travel, whilst responding to the site's changing urban context. The main three towers - positioned at the northern and southern corners - are shaped by organic movement. Their placement frames pedestrian routes from the north-east and west, establishing visual and physical connections between Vauxhall Station and Nine Elms Park. Each tower is defined by stepped, orthogonal forms that maximise dual aspect living, natural light, and residential amenity. A diverse mix of uses supports a vibrant and sustainable community. The western tower offers private homes; the north-eastern tower focuses on build-to-rent accommodation. Both deliver 35% on-site affordable housing. To the south, a distinct tripod-form tower provides co-living accommodation with open communal spaces oriented towards the park and river. Mid-rise buildings house a hotel, flexible workspaces, and high-quality social rent homes atop a proposed community health centre. The hotel building anchors the development’s western side. Offering 220 guest rooms, it includes active frontages with a bar, restaurant and lobby space along Wandsworth Road - strengthening town centre activity and supporting the evening economy. A rooftop restaurant and co-working amenities enhance the building’s contribution to the public realm. A fourth tower, at the southern end of the development site, features a 40-storey student accommodation tower. This building plays a vital role in supporting the wider regeneration of the area, contributing to housing diversity and enabling infrastructure investment. Its slender profile, active ground floor, and animated façades bring vitality to the Wandsworth Road and surrounding streets. Urban form and massing have evolved in response to the central location, enabling a greater height and density while maintaining a coherent townscape. The proposed density unlocks significant public and social value. The tallest tower reaches 230m, offering a visual focal point within the Vauxhall and Nine Elms cluster. At ground level, the architecture prioritises activation and community benefit. A mix of cultural, leisure, and wellbeing uses - shaped through research with public realm specialists - will animate the streetscape and support local needs. These frontages, coupled with improved permeability, promote safety and vibrancy throughout the day. The architecture balances clarity of form with crafted detailing. Façades express depth and rhythm, employing light, calm materials in dialogue with Vauxhall’s evolving context. Shading, layering, and articulation respond to energy performance requirements while enhancing the scheme’s urban character. These proposals offer a cohesive, landscape-led response to one of London’s most strategically located sites - delivering quality homes, resilient public spaces, and architectural distinction at the heart of a rapidly changing.
48-56 Ebury Bridge Road
There are currently 11,864 people over the age of 65 living with a long-term illness in Westminster - with nearly half of people aged over 65 living alone. The recent Joint Strategic Needs Assessment on Dementia found that diagnoses of long-term conditions associated with ageing will increase by 56% between 2013 and 2033. By 2023, over 2,600 people in Westminster will have dementia - with this trend continuing beyond 2030 with over 760 new cases forecast annually. Situated on a corner site adjacent to the Chelsea Barracks development, Ebury Bridge Road will provide 44 high-quality suites for elderly people with dementia. The scheme addresses the acute shortage of this use in Westminster, which has the second-lowest number of registered beds for dementia of any London borough. Formerly used as a petrol filling station, the site constitutes a point of transition between the low scale of St Barnabas Street, which is characterised by two-storey townhouses, and the much higher buildings of Ebury Bridge Road. EPR's design innovatively reflects the prevailing character of the local architecture. The new brick-faced building, of a residential character, will be a positive addition to the rich and varied group of apartment-style buildings of different periods along Ebury Bridge Road and in the surrounding area. White textured stonework to the base of the building and brick from the first to fourth floors responds to the materiality and scale of the neighbouring street scene, whilst a rough-cut stone transition wall, in formats to match that of the brickwork, creates a seamless blend between the two buildings. Recesses within the stone echoing the proportions of the windows and entrance doors further serves to enhance the transition between the proposal and the terraced housing along St Barnabas Street. Bay windows are an integral part of the architecture and functionality of our proposal. Developed in response to the site’s context externally and the requirements of the building users internally - they maximise natural light within the building and create sanctuary spaces for residents to sit in and benefit from the additional aspects the bay form provides. Wellbeing and accessibility are at the heart of the design. Ebury Bridge Road will be fully accessible to wheelchair users - with level access provided throughout to all external terraces and entrances from street level, passenger lifts with access to all floors and rooms arranged to allow for turning circles around beds and in en-suites. Wide corridors throughout the scheme allow for the passage and turning of residents using wheelchairs, whilst a circular arrangement improves the user experience for patients with dementia, as there are no dead ends. Therapeutic planted terraces and a lush sensory garden will provide a tranquil outdoor space for residents to enjoy - greatly enhancing wellbeing. Sustainability was a key design driver. The project is targeting a BREEAM rating of Excellent, reducing carbon emissions by implementing smart energy-saving systems, careful material selection and thermal upgrading. This includes an energy-efficient plant and roof-mounted PV, air-source heat pumps and waste water heat recovery.
Technique
Our approach at Technique is about uniting design and history through a transformational design that balances old and new. Radical in design and its use of materials, it sets a benchmark for sustainable, adaptive re-use and the development of thoughtful, human-centric office space. Set across six storeys of high-ceilings and generous open volumes washed with superb natural light, Technique is richly textured at every turn. Conjured and crafted from two historic buildings in the heart of Clerkenwell, the building’s past histories have been expressed to create a space that is generous, light-filled and full of raw character. Laser House, the existing building at 132 Goswell Road, was built in the 1960s to replace a gin distillery, one of the many clustered in the Clerkenwell neighbourhood. Our refurbishment has created office space: behind the retained façade, upward extensions of one floor to each of the existing blocks has created workspace for more than 850 people, including 5,000 square feet dedicated to small businesses. Our most significant intervention is at the corner of the block, where the existing building steps back to leave a small redundant piece of ground on the site of the old inn. Here, we have designed a double-height volume at first-floor level, floating above its own active base. The corner intervention, collaged against the older building, acts as the main entrance to the development, but also has a public use as a flexible venue for exhibitions and events. We wanted to create a sense of activity on the perimeter, so the old loading bays of the printworks along Pear Tree Street have been given new full-height glazed shopfronts, making visible the office space inside. Here, a new sunken courtyard brings natural light down to a flexible commercial unit of 6,350 square feet on the ground and lower-ground floors. Regarding sustainability, alongside our client, we were set against the waste of energy and resources involved in tearing existing buildings down. This presented an opportunity, through the smartest architecture, elegant and ingenious additions and reconfiguration, to create something remarkable. Three entirely new floors have been built using glulam and cross laminated timber structural components, sourced from sustainably managed forests, resulting in a 43% reduction in carbon emissions. Structural elements of the CLT addition were pre-fabricated off site and assembled on site, cutting site traffic by 70%. The building is topped with 10,000 sq ft of green roof, increasing local bio-diversity and reducing the heat island effect. The building has achieved a BREEAM Excellent sustainability rating, a rare achievement for a refurbished building. The ingredients chosen to create Technique are not just sustainable but crafted, richly detailed and of the highest quality. The CLT structure in the three new floors has been white-washed and left exposed, creating a warm, organic new bone structure creating an altogether earthier office environment. Concrete in the existing buildings has been sand-blasted, celebrating its tactility and tones.
New Bermondsey
The New Bermondsey masterplan will regenerate an underused 6.1 hectare industrial area into a mixed-use neighbourhood. Our vision is anchored by a unique, multi-layered landscape inspired by the existing network of railway viaducts, embankments and landforms that give character to this area. Improved transport connections, as well as pedestrian and cycle-friendly routes, are animated by sports, culture, retail and employment spaces that blend seamlessly into the public realm. This provides an opportunity to reimagine this site as a vibrant and attractive place to live, work and play in. New Bermondsey takes into careful consideration the industrial heritage and unique character of the area to offer: • Much needed new homes including affordable homes. 3,500 tenure-blind and high-quality homes will be for rent and sale; • A pedestrian and cycle-friendly public realm. Nine new streets and fourteen underpass upgrades will unlock the area with safe, well-lit and convenient connections. There will be 8 cycle routes, 2 cycle and pedestrian road crossings and 2 cycle hire docking stations; • Improved connections and a new station – The scheme will provide two new bus routes through the site and enable the proposed Overground station at Surrey Canal Road to support the area’s growth and to improve connections to Lewisham, Central London and Canary Wharf; • A new state-of-the-art indoor sports complex for Lewisham & South London – A wide range of high quality sports facilities will be on offer to the local community and schools, including multi-use sports halls, a swimming pool, gym, community youth club, and multi-purpose arena; • A thriving local economy and new job opportunities – The scheme provides space for digital, health, childcare, sports and creative industries alongside shops, bars, cafes, restaurants which will create up to 1,250 jobs, including construction jobs, and help create a thriving local district, greatly improving the local economy for existing residents and businesses. We have also woven a sustainability strategy within the New Bermondsey masterplan, which includes the following: • Zero carbon development through energy efficient design, low carbon heating with connection to SELCHP (local community heating network) and local carbon offsetting; • ENVAC, an automated vacuum-driven waste system that collects refuse across the masterplan to a central collection point to reduce refuse vehicle trips; • Fabric First Approach, homes designed to minimise heating demands through efficient design and high performing specification; • Use of solar PV panels; • BREEAM Certification for all major non-residential spaces; • A landscape-led design that enables easy access to green spaces, helping people to relax and improving mental health; • A net bio-diversity gain across the whole masterplan; • A holistic flood risk and drainage design integrated into the natural environment increases site resilience to climate change; • Water efficient fittings and design solutions, including rainwater harvesting and used within non-potables uses on site; and • Site wide sustainable transport strategy to encourage healthy lifestyles, through ease of access to public transport, cycle routes and electric car charging points and car clubs.
The Foundry
Breathing new life into and realising the potential beauty of dilapidated 19th-century industrial buildings, this project, through innovation, made possible the retention of fragile original brickwork beneficial in conservation and sustainability terms. Adaptive re-use of the historic buildings presented an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of retention over demolition in terms of life-cycle performance. All new interventions, the roof, the large areas of glazing and the new ground floor slab, achieve high thermal insulation values. The orientation of fenestration is designed to maximise beneficial solar gain, while north-facing, openable skylights provide natural light and ventilation during the working day. With underfloor heating, the building is designed for conversion to heat pump supply when planning regulations permit. Horizontal thrust from collapsing roof trusses had given an alarming lean to the external walls of the main building. Reducing the roof loading on these walls and ensuring only vertical downforces was achieved through an innovative structural solution. Deep steel trusses were installed spanning the 25m length of the building. From this primary structure, secondary steel beams span to support the new zinc roof. Hingeing on the fixings at the truss end, the secondary beams transmit only vertical loads on to the fragile brick walls. The new roof is a defining feature. A saw-tooth profile central section sits within the primary structure while retaining the 15m-tall chimney and much of the historic fabric ensured that the past remains present. The replacement roof form references the building’s industrial past, yet gives it a distinctive contemporary feature for the future. The Foundry creates a new home for our practice with spaces designed for hosting cultural events. For this it was necessary to increase the available floor space by introducing a mezzanine level. Although some 5m tall, the existing workshop space was not sufficient in height to allow well-proportioned spaces on two floors. This was achieved through excavation and underpinning to go down and a small height increase to go up, negotiated successfully with neighbours and planners. Entry to the studio offers a palpable tranquillity in dramatic contrast to the noisy road outside. The 15m entrance gallery is flanked by a brick-paved courtyard garden with floor-to-ceiling glass doors. An in-situ cast concrete stair leads up to the studio on the mezzanine level, with a slatted maple ceiling and purpose-made furniture designed by the practice and fabricated on site. Large windows give views into the two courtyards and over neighbouring roofs. A half-level below the gallery is the Project Room, a flexible space for assembling and making presentations, and hosting events. From here a large meeting room is reached; a spectacular double-height space containing the foundry chimney with a 6m-high window to the second courtyard garden. The palette of materials including natural timber, in-situ cast concrete, precast concrete and exposed structural steel is beautifully integrated with the sandblasted restored brickwork. The juxtaposition of these materials illuminated from a variety of natural-light sources creates a poetic contemporary design aesthetic in perfect harmony with the historic structure of The Foundry.
Ebury Bridge
Ebury Bridge defines a new exceptional standard of estate regeneration, providing over 50% of affordable homes in one of London’s most expensive boroughs. The concept developed with the visionary client, Westminster City Council, sets out to deliver exceptional design of homes, outside space as well as community, retail, flexible office and nursery facilities. The new Ebury is supported by exceptional sustainable credentials and engineering strategies; reflected in the long-term reduction of running costs and financial impact on residents. Homes for all The Ebury Bridge regeneration project is currently one of the most significant regeneration projects in Westminster, delivering more than 750 central London homes, which 50% will be affordable. The initial phase will deliver homes in the majority, for returning residents through several tenure opportunities - to truly deliver needed homes for all in one of London’s most unaffordable places to live. The first phase delivers 2 of the 9 buildings including a new public garden square and podium; completed by 2023 with the whole masterplan completed by 2027. The scheme sets a standard for Westminster’s ground-breaking vision delivering exceptional design quality. The renewal of the estate represents an opportunity to improve quality of life for existing residents, upgrade the ageing housing stock, addressing overcrowding, and provide improved public realm. The route to zero Carbon The project sets new standards for large-scale central London estate regeneration, from engaging with residents to reaching new targets for sustainability. The project supports Westminster’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030 and by 2040 for the City, ten years ahead of Government targets. It is anticipated that the new homes will produce 90% less carbon and perform almost 50% better than Building Regulations Part L regulated carbon emissions. The masterplan design From the outset, the masterplan and building form has been developed and orientated to maximise the quality of public space, internal residential space, relationship with neighbouring buildings and relationship with the city context. Taller buildings adjacent to the railway orientate to maximise daylight into the public realm and podium landscaped terraces. Daylight quality is comparable with the existing estate, providing improvements at winter and summer peaks despite a 100% increase in number of homes on the site. The orientation and scale provide an acoustic buffer to the railway to create more comfortable external landscaped and internal residential environments. Lower buildings fronting the street tie into the context and scale of neighbouring buildings and conservation area, preserving the quality of Ebury bridge road and extending the retail parade. The footprint of the blocks create a connected series of outside public squares through the heart of the masterplan improving wider connectivity with new Northern and Southern gateways. Each of the new London squares (a take on the traditional approach) provide a differing character to support a place to rest, meet, play and learn. 230 new trees will be planted across the masterplan as well as retaining 6 mature trees on the current site, significantly contributing to the overall improved green quality of Ebury.
Phase 1, New Bermondsey
Phase 1, New Bermondsey delivers an extraordinary mixed-used design tailored to fit a challenging triangular site. The architectural character is inspired by the history of the area, a significant hive of industrial activity during the Industrial Revolution. The industrial buildings and structures of this era were typically utilitarian in character, with expressed structures and honesty in the selection and use of hard-wearing and sympathetic materials. Phase 1 takes these design cues from this past industrial aesthetic with a contemporary appearance to create a juxtaposition between new and old. Phase 1 comprises three identical triangular residential buildings carefully positioned above a unique three-storey podium that delivers a range of uses, including a café, studios, flexible foyer area and anchored at the heart of the scheme, a multi-purpose auditorium space capable of hosting a wide variety of events and accommodating up to 800 visitors at a time. Combined with a south-facing square, Phase 1 will create memorable and warm sense of welcoming to the nearby proposed Overground station that is expected to be completed at the same time. A total of 600 private and affordable homes are accommodated in tenure-blind towers. The majority of the homes are dual-aspect and there are no north-facing single-aspect dwellings. The triangular form enables each building to sit within each corner of the triangular site, resulting in generous separation distances between them and creating a column-free central space at ground level to house the auditorium. Connecting the three towers is the podium; an organic hill-like form that creates a visual connection to the adjacent verdant railway embankments. The podium references the angular geometry of the towers and combines these with sweeping curves and stepping-terraces. Extensive planters wrap along the terraces of the podium, creating swathes of green that pleasingly complement the concrete façades. The ‘hilltop’ offers landscaped open space for all residents to enjoy. Within the podium itself, a permeable layout ensures that residents and visitors can enjoy unobstructed routes that flow through and connect spaces, such as the café, foyer and residential entrances. Exoskeletons push structure to the perimeter of the building to increase building adaptability into the future and improves integration with the podium. A soft-pink pigmentation celebrates this structural strategy, which also visually breaks down the overall building mass. The colour choice of a soft pink makes reference to the warmer shades found in traditional London Stock brick, found in the railway arches and historic warehouses of the area. Both, exoskeletons and podium cladding will be constructed from pre-cast concrete elements and share a language of precision and uniformity. Sustainability is also been a key driver behind the design of Phase 1. It aims to be a zero carbon development through energy efficient design, low carbon heating with connection to SELCHP (community heating network), local carbon offsetting and by encouraging cycling and walking. The podium will also be home to ENVAC, an automated vacuum-driven waste system that collects refuse across the New Bermondsey masterplan to a central collection point to reduce refuse vehicle trip.
8 Albert Embankment
8 Albert Embankment Pilbrow & Partners’ proposals for 8 Albert Embankment commissioned by U+I have been selected by London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) to deliver a major mixed-use masterplan on the Fire Brigades’ Headquarters’ site. This strategic site is located within the London Borough of Lambeth on the southern Embankment of the River Thames, on the stretch upstream from Waterloo and downstream from Vauxhall. The site covers an area of 1.06ha and benefits from excellent a public transport accessibility. 8 Albert Embankment is much more than the restoration of a Grade II riverside landmark. It is the tipping point for a forgotten neighbourhood in the beating heart of London and will draw mavens and adventurers looking for a piece of untrammelled London spirit. Combining a bespoke hotel and rooftop restaurant with a range of office spaces and retail, apartments and public space, plus a new museum and fire station, 8 Albert Embankment joins the dots to create a new destination capable of redrawing London’s cultural map. The scheme uniquely delivers a new fire station. Together with the new London Fire Brigade Museum, this will provide a major addition to London’s cultural offer with strong local education and public safety outreach initiatives. The scheme delivers space for over 1250 jobs across multiple sectors, 417 new homes including 142 affordable units. A hotel and rooftop restaurant overlooking the Embankment and Westminster contribute to the activation of the entire site and offer new public access to the historic areas of the listed building. The proposals include a transformation of the public realm with four proposed public spaces connected by new routes across the site linking the proposals into the wider context. The public realm is activated by retail, restaurant, and affordable workspace - reinforcing the emerging art district and commercial centre located along Newport St. Together, these assets turn a dilapidated and acknowledged underused area of the Embankment into a regenerated heart for Lambeth and its now appropriately named High St. The design followed an earlier proposed scheme by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) for developer Native Land which was rejected in 2011. These proposals were dismissed by Lambeth Council because of concerns over scale and impact on the daylight of neighbouring properties. Our design approach has been shaped by a detailed understanding of the issues raised in the 2010 application scheme. We placed strong emphasis on ensuring improved levels of natural light to neighbouring properties and sought to achieve high levels of residential quality. We also emphasised the creation of significant new areas of public realm, as well as the provision of ‘doorstep’ play space to address the intensification of development, and thereby achieve the regeneration aspirations for the site as set out in statutory policy.
1 Lyric Square
1 Lyric Square. is a fourteen-storey 1970’s office building designed by Richard Seifert as part of the King Street development. The building has been subject to piecemeal fit-outs and alterations but was otherwise as originally conceived. The narrow plan, low floor to ceiling heights, inefficient cores, failing M+E systems and poorly insulated facades all posed challenges. However, the building also presented opportunities to celebrate the original architectural character and improve under-developed areas that could be re-purposed for commercial benefit. Stiff+Trevillion were commissioned to re-imagine 1 Lyric Square and provide new Grade A workspace. Embracing the unique character and constraints of the original structure the design aimed to reposition the building for a newly emerging tenant profile. Fundamentally changing the MEP strategy to floor by floor plant rooms in combination with new windows and facade systems, allowed the design team to convert previously under-utilised plant spaces at level 1 and 13 into high quality office accommodation. Reconfiguring the services within the existing office spaces removed the necessity for ceiling distribution, maximising the constrained floor to ceiling heights and improving views and natural light. Efficient planning of the cores and rationalisation of MEP services resulted in an NIA increase of 15% within the same building volume. The majority of this additional space was delivered at the highest value 13th floor (in lieu of an old plant room) and at the first floor level which served to bridge the original vertical transition between the ground floor entrance and level 2 offices. The new first floor offices also provided the opportunity to convert a servicing route into a spectacular roof terrace. The principal factor that sets this project apart are the sweeping unobstructed views across London and beyond from almost every angle on the upper floors the building. High levels of natural make this a highly desirable environment in which to work in spite of the constraints imposed by the existing building. Its location, in Hammersmith, an area undergoing rapid change also offers first class transport links, ideally situated to make use of public transport and proximity to the river walks by the Thames. Many of the features that made it a good example of commercial design of its time have been adapted to reposition the building for innovative organisations. This is the perfect example of a building being given a new lease of life, preserving it for the next 30 years plus. The reimaging of this local landmark has made a positive contribution to the west of London, bringing vitality to this corner of Hammersmith. The radical transformation of the thirteenth floor from out dated plant space to a spectacular bright office floor is a particular achievement. Opening up the staircases have not only improved the natural daylight entering the building but have made a postitive contribution to the circulation and movement of people on the lower floors, encouraging a more collaborative style of working. The outside terrace space will provide a welcome green oasis for informal meetings and respite from the hustle of the city streets below. The buildings transformation was so compelling that the original 50% pre-let tenant decided to sign up to a 15 year lease on the whole building prior to Practical Completion.
Eccleston Yards
Eccleston Yards redevelops a previously derelict and underutilised car park between Victoria and Belgravia. Our focus on the pedestrian experience has brought in new footfall – and a diverse new community. The project involves the refurbishment of five existing buildings at ground level which are opened up into nineteen retail and gallery spaces, as well as the creation of a new public courtyard, and the placement of new pedestrian routes to connect with neighbouring streets. The scheme repairs the urban fabric and creates an energetic co-working hub for visitors and creative talent that champions the reuse of existing buildings in London. It re-establishes this area as a vibrant and attractive place to visit. Our interventions centred on the experience at ground floor: visitors are led through the scheme by a unifying ‘carpet’ of concrete paving, while new shopfronts have been added to the surrounding buildings, activating the perimeter of the previously dormant site. Life at the Yards revolves around a central courtyard, which is both an anteroom to the buildings around it and a place in itself. We envisaged it as a blank canvas which could be co-opted by its user: it now hosts pop-up screenings, food festivals and sporting events, while local artists have taken occupation of the space by painting murals around its walls. We began by establishing pedestrian access from Ebury Street and Eccleston Yards through new passageways. Retail units housed within restored industrial buildings at ground level serve to activate the public realm set out beneath a new lighting scheme. This increases permeability through the site and leads to central landscaped courtyard which serves as an anteroom for the entire scheme. Raised planters interlock to act as seating and the space is popular throughout the week, appealing to office workers on weekday lunchtimes, as well as visitors and families at weekends. The provision of power allows for cultural events to be held in the space, such as a pop-up cinema, food festivals and sporting events. Throughout Eccleston Yards, the character of the original buildings is evident in those elements we have chosen to retain. These include larger features such as decorative stonework, cast- and wrought-iron structural columns and beams, as well as smaller touches such as Victorian junction boxes and archaeologically exposed layers of brick and render. By reusing the existing buildings in their current form with little to no structural intervention, we have sustainably brought them and the courtyard into public use. This demonstrates a minimal and passive way to develop buildings whilst successfully creating engaging spaces that greatly improve the pre-existing site. The success of Eccleston Yards rests in its diverse mix of uses. The scheme retains a human scale and celebrates the individuality of each of the buildings, and the combination of food, fashion and retail, combined with co-working, culture and wellbeing, keeps the space lively, whether during the working week or evenings and weekends.
27 Eccleston Place
The renovation of 27 Eccleston Place – now known as Ice Factory - has breathed new life into a former industrial building to create workspace, retail and two new restaurants over five floors. Thus completing our two-stage masterplan of Eccleston Yards. As a retrofit scheme, we demonstrated how an existing building that had been designed for industrial use and then only served as large, shed-like commercial space could be reimagined into a mixed-use scheme through a sequence of simple, key moves. Architecturally, the façade’s original cast iron beams and columns which face onto Eccleston Yards were retained, with the rivetted ironwork repainted in a striking red oxide paint. The existing arched openings were also restored to provide entrances to the retail space and office space. The additional two storeys are clad in brick with a subtle tonal difference marking the distinction between old and new. Where windows and other apertures on the existing building are infilled, the same tonal difference marks where work has taken place to record the modifications made to the building. A new restaurant has been created on the fourth floor, with full-height glazing and two terraces that officer external dining space looking out over surrounding rooftops and the open space of Eccleston Yards. The office element of the proposals was designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent and the retail element to BREEAM Very Good. The project prioritises a circular economy by retaining the existing structure and reusing existing materials to reduce embodied carbon emissions, such as reclaimed raised access floors. A circular Economy was applied through construction to reduce material use and waste generation, including the use of low-impact materials such as Cemfree to reduce embodied carbon emissions. Operational Carbon was tackled through the specification of rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panels and an all-electric heating and cooling system with 100% green energy procurement.
Boston Manor
The Boston Manor House project rescued an ‘at risk’ Grade I-listed manor house, enabling total restoration and conservation of the historic fabric, interior and exterior. Commissioned by the London Borough of Hounslow, and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, our task was to revitalise and reimagine the house from a former neglected private dwelling into a sustainable heritage asset that serves the local community and has a renewed relevance and purpose for the 21st century. Built in 1622, Boston Manor House is the remarkable survivor of a Jacobean manorial estate with a long and varied history of private residents. From the early 20th century, the house gradually slid into a state of disrepair, and with no heir to maintain it, was sold in 1924, eventually ending up on the Heritage at Risk Register. The project was delivered in two phases: The first phase of the project saw the restoration of the historic 17th century timber roof structure, which included splicing-in with new oak where necessary to match the existing, in order to ensure structural stability was secured whilst maintaining the historic integrity of the fabric. The second phase included the conservation and re-presentation of the house and service wing, as well as the construction of the new lift and the refurbishment and fit-out of the cafe and visitor facilities. The Victorian service wing was transformed into lettable makerspaces, now occupied by the Jimmy Choo Academy. The works were underpinned by a robust conservation philosophy, based on extensive research and a thorough understanding of the building’s historical significance. The rooms were revived, brought back to life using traditional techniques driven by discoveries made on site. Some of the rooms have been restored based on expert analysis of archaeological evidence hidden under layers of paint and plasterboard, and, where none has survived, on contemporary sources to inform reconstruction. Interpretation throughout the house tells the story of the 400-year history of the building and inhabitants. Boston Manor House has been transformed into a freely-accessible and interactive space that offers community-led exhibitions, guided walks, volunteering opportunities, school visits and public art to the local community and visitors, making the site more resilient and sustainable while enhancing the social, cultural, and economic character of the community. Through a programme of careful restoration and sensitive adaptation, together with the vision and ambition of the London Borough of Hounslow and National Heritage Funding, Boston Manor House has set a new benchmark for delivering relevance, financial viability, and public engagement to heritage buildings.
ArtsEd
The first phase of the redevelopment and masterplanning of ArtsEd performing arts school. Located in a tight and landlocked block within a largely suburban site, the complex redevelopment reorganises a previously disparate and physically separated educational campus into one cohesive whole. The project will be delivered in three phases over the next decade to minimise disruption to the school and adjoining properties. The scheme unlocks the site’s potential and creates much needed new studio, rehearsal and teaching spaces in the previously unused courtyard and rooftop areas. Every millimetre of space has been maximised to ensure that ArtsEd’s four distinct schools can all operate from their own state-of-the-art site with facilities that match the exceptional quality of teaching. Built for Chiswick Polytechnic in the 1950s, the existing building was in desperate need of extension and refurbishment. Restructuring and clearly defining safeguarding separation has helped to consolidate all the students and staff. The redevelopment rejuvenates and revitalises the existing site and dramatically improves existing provisions. The new and existing spaces are now environmentally comfortable, sustainable and support the overall wellbeing of its occupants physically, socially and creatively. ArtsEd has a strong community outreach and provision programme that draws in a wide array of the local community to share the school's facilities and staff. ArtsEd looked at various development options, including relocation and new build development, but settled on maintaining its close local ties. The proposals have been carefully considered to ensure that they positively contribute to the school's immediate neighbours, the wider conservation area and the community. The playful architectural narrative is inspired by the ideas of ‘natural movement’ and the concept of transformational education through the medium of dance. Underpinned by a new studio theatre at the eastern end of the site, the scheme unlocks the existing buildings and delivers an additional 2875m2 (GIA) of new facilities. The old gymnasium, which took up a third of the existing courtyard space, has been demolished to facilitate the new spaces. Phase one has included creating a triple layer volume set against the existing building that houses a series of shared rooms and breakout spaces connecting the old and new buildings, new classrooms and three 6m high square dance studios with improved height requirements and sprung floors to prevent injuries. The exterior treatment of the new extensions uses an architectural language that brings renewed coherence and identity to the school. The façade uses economic industrial envelope material in a bespoke and playful manner to elevate its materiality. The façade concept is reminiscent of the loops and arcs in musical notation and movement. Varying and dynamic arched openings are set within and against the simple, repetitive rhythm of the profiled anodized aluminium façade to reflect the dynamic activity housed within. The large openings provide clear and expansive views of the London skyline from within and open out onto a planted roof terrace and recreational area. A new circulation spine along the rear elevation of the main building has allowed the school to become fully accessible.
Kensington High Street
127 Kensington High Street The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has approved our plans for the renovation and remodelling of 127 Kensington High Street. In 2015, Columbia Threadneedle commissioned Pilbrow & Partners to prepare redevelopment proposals for 127 Kensington High Street at the corner of Kensington High Street and Wrights Lane. The proposals remodel the bleak 1970s building to transform the quality of its architecture, public realm and internal working environment. The mixed-use building will provide next-generation office space and will also improve connectivity to Kensington High Street Underground station through the creation of a new retail arcade. The existing building is a purpose-built department store built in the 1970s but occupied principally with offices. The retail is poorly configured and routes to the adjacent Kensington High Street Underground Station are informal through the ground floor Boots unit. The existing building is recognised as being of low architectural quality and its large, blank ground floor frontages detracting from the public realm along Wrights Lane. The orthogonal planning of the existing building breaks the alignment of the historic street wall, leaving awkward residual spaces on this frontage. The proposals restore the definition of the urban block with new facades of Roman brick and Portland Stone. The building scale along this frontage is modulated as a series of bays - a remediation of the relentless mass of the existing building and a restoration of its civic nature. The revised office space, doubled in scale, will provide better quality workspace, benefiting from improved accessibility, flexibility, environmental performance and a high proportion of external space. The existing office entrances will be consolidated into a single new lobby on Wrights Lane set on axis with Iverna Court. This entrance connects to a new core set on the eastern elevation that serves floor plates that are well lit, well-proportioned and capable of flexible subdivision. The upper floors set back from Wrights Lane, creating generous external terraces on the upper floors. Elevational Proposals The proposals remodel the existing 1970s building to deliver an appropriate architectural response to this prominent site on Kensington High Street. Historically Kensington High Street boasted three famous department stores, Barkers, Derry & Toms and Pontings -the latter was located on this site prior to its closure when the existing building was constructed. The architecture of the surviving department stores to the east -both listed- provided reference to the proposed elevational approach with a restored hierarchy of base, body and attic elements. The detail and depth of the elevations in a white Roman Brick echo the Portland Stone facades of the listed neighbouring buildings. The Arcade A new retail arcade offers public access to the Underground, animated by a parade of specialist retail units.
1 Victoria Street
Immediately next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey - One Victoria Street is the redevelopment of the former headquarters of the UK Government Department for Business & Trade. The new building will reinvent the inward-looking and fortress-like 1960s building to achieve the highest sustainability levels, improve the health and wellbeing of building users and reinvigorate the tired streetscape, with high quality retail and leisure accommodation. The site occupies a whole city block set within the historic context of the City of Westminster. It is bounded to the north by Victoria Street which links the busy retail and office areas around London Victoria Station to the tourist hot spots of Parliament Square, Westminster Abbey, and the Palace of Westminster. Abbey Orchard Street, to the south, is more residential in character with narrow streets lined with brick mansion blocks. One Victoria Street is designed to be a respectful neighbour to the World Heritage Site, while at the same time revitalising the east end of Victoria Street with an active ground plane providing access to a vibrant mix of uses retail, leisure, and entertainment space and 385,000 sq ft of high-quality office space. The stepped form of the proposed building responds to the need to preserve key historic views towards Westminster Abbey and the World Heritage Site, maintain the quality of daylight to residential neighbours, and to provide a variety of external amenity spaces with a mix of soft and hard landscaping at every level. Facade materials complement the sensitive historic context. The north facing elevations are clad with Portland Stone in a brick module making use of waste material from the quarrying process. A London stock brick is used to tie into the more residential character of the area to the south of the site. The top floors are clad in a darker stone relate to the roofscapes seen from the World Heritage Site. The stone and brick are supported by an innovative Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) modular frame. This material has been used to minimise weight and embodied carbon. After extensive studies, the superstructure was found to be unsuitable for retention, however the new building will make use of the existing basement which results in 52% of the total existing structure retained (by volume). The proposed new structure is as lean as possible to minimise embodied carbon. Operational carbon will be minimised through low carbon MEP solutions, and new high performing facades which change in depth and proportion of glazing in response to orientation. Urban greening through landscape and planting around the ground floor, and a series of cascading terraces at upper levels for the use of office occupants. Circular economy principles have been adopted to divert all waste from landfill including: - 120 tonnes of glass recovered and re-manufactured as high-quality glass. - 92,000 raised access floor tiles and 50,400 carpet tiles recovered for reuse. - Fittings and furniture from the existing building donated to local community groups/charities.
London Square, Bermondsey
The masterplan for London Square Bermondsey sees the regeneration of a run-down and disjointed industrial estate in central London, bringing many vacant and under-used buildings with historic value back into use. The site includes some of the last remaining examples of buildings for the tannery trade, an industry that came to define Bermondsey in the 19th and early 20th century. From the early twentieth century, the site was used by Crosse & Blackwell as its main London processing and canning factory. The scheme refurbishes these existing buildings and supplements them with new ones to provide new commercial, retail and residential uses. The masterplan provides for more than 400 new homes, 35% of which will be affordable and social housing, with a new commercial hub of approximately 20,000 sqm dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises. This allows the retention of two resident artist groups - The Drawing Room/Tannery Arts and Southwark Studios - who have been on site for the past 20 years and with whom the design team has collaborated on parts of the scheme to create a better sense of place. Phase one of the masterplan was completed in 2022 with AHMM’s The Crosse (plot 2), The Canning (Plot 6) and Coffey Architects’ The Tannery (Plot 1) and AHMM’s The Pickle Factory (Plot 5) completed in 2023 as part of Phase Two. The final phase, due to complete in 2025 will see the final part of the masterplan completed by AHMM - The Blackwell (Plot 4 ). A sequence of green spaces renews land previously contaminated by centuries of industrial use. The new landscape comprises of the planting of more than 100 trees across the site, and the creation of new public and private open planted spaces. The private, residential gardens have been designed to have individual identities, allowing them to respond to the architecture around them. The masterplan looks to reconnect the currently disjointed site and stitch it back into the local area through new routes and connections to the new development. Overlapping gardens engage with new pedestrian routes and active commercial frontages at the lower levels, animate the existing streets as well as opening up new spaces.
11-15 Grosvenor Crescent
11 - 15 Grosvenor Crescent, London, UK The refurbishment and re-modelling of 11-15 Grosvenor Crescent represented a unique opportunity to breathe new life into a Listed building which had suffered from decades of unsophisticated intervention, and to combine it with a dynamic new addition to complement the historic fabric. A clear distinction between old and new; The existing rear wall of the main terraced building has been retained and repaired and the connection between the old and the new is thoughtfully expressed through a series of internal light wells and glass link bridges, expressly complementing and contrasting old fabric with new, both externally and internally. The building mediates between differing townscape scales, from the grandeur of the Crescent to the smaller scale of the Mews, using materiality as well as scale and proportion to provide a carefully thought out composition. The existing building has been restored and where features have been lost, the grandeur of the original front rooms has been replaced. The approach to the introduction of contemporary elements, such as bathrooms, was to separate them from the existing fabric – a light touch approach which sees the best of the old sitting comfortably in contrast with the new. The terrace of five buildings remain as separate entities at ground and first floor – entrances to the Grand apartments and the main communal entrance to the building reinvigorate the existing porticoed frontage. Lateral apartments on upper floors deliver high quality residential layouts, which acknowledge the original plan forms by retaining original party wall lines, whilst maintaining a comfortable and logical flow of space through the units.
Elizabeth Tower
The world-famous Elizabeth Tower is the pinnacle of the Palace of Westminster: the symbolic heartbeat and timepiece of the nation. Its triumphant restoration is a testament to the meticulous preservation of historic landmarks, craftmanship, and the integration of modern engineering techniques. At the project’s inception in 2015, the Tower and The Great Clock were overdue for its next repair cycle: the subsequent conservation and refurbishment project has been the most extensive in the clock tower’s 160-year history. Our objective was to undertake comprehensive repairs, whilst undoing harmful previous interventions, and extending its life cycle before the next refurbishment to 50 years, safeguarding its future as an indispensable cultural monument and heritage site. Works included comprehensive restoration to the clock’s face, mechanisms, and decorative elements; redecoration and re-gilding of the cast iron roof tiles; and extensive stone repairs. In addition, aesthetically displeasing asphalt waterproofing and a 1950s brick stair enclosure were removed, re-instating the open, original appearance and materiality with new Hopton Wood limestone flooring to match the originally intended finish. The brick stair enclosure was replaced with a new glass enclosure, protecting against driving rain and water ingress whilst retaining the view of Big Ben at the top of the spiral stair. This glass enclosure was extruded, allowing the addition of a platform lift into the Belfry from the level below, connecting with a passenger lift to the clock Mechanism Room and all intermediate floors. All existing mechanical and electrical systems were replaced, the works included the installation of new LED lighting to the clock dials and Belfry and the addition of humidity-controlled conservation heating, improving the energy efficiency of the historic clock tower fire safety systems. Purcell’s approach, using Building Information Modelling, marked UK Parliament’s first full employment of BIM Level 2. This was instrumental in the effective management of the external stonework package – which numbered around 1000 repairs - as well as the 3800 cast iron elements. The completed BIM model provides a rich and thorough heritage data tool. Specialist craftspeople from all over the country were involved in the project: by using traditional trades including stone masonry, gilding, glass cutting and horology, the project has invested in and preserved these heritage skills, in addition to preserving a pivotal built heritage asset. The completed project has seen the celebrated tower rejuvenated, restored, and brought into the 21st century with modernised facilities, ensuring it will continue to bring joy to its many visitors.
Lancer Square
Lancer Square represented a rare opportunity to extend the urban village of Kensington, London with a development steeped in the area’s history. Previously the grounds and kitchen garden of Kensington Palace, and subsequently the Kensington Barracks for the Royal Lancers, designs organise the 13,600sqm site with a cluster of elegantly proportioned buildings set around a new landscaped public courtyard. Four distinct buildings – comprising apartments, workspace, shops and cafes – enclose the square with an architectural language drawn from the palace and surrounding Conservation Area. Ranging from 4 to 7 storeys, three of the buildings create fifty-one 1-4 bedroom private and affordable residential apartments, and a fourth block delivers a new office building. Each look onto the new public courtyard, which takes influences from the palace’s courtyards, orangery and sunken garden. Visible from Kensington Church Street, the garden continues the tradition of west London garden squares and references the former use of the site. Two different tones of handmade brick combine with crisp limestone and delicate metalwork to create elevations which celebrate contemporary and traditional craftsmanship and establish a new destination for living, working and dining in Kensington. Lancer Square is rooted in place from the urban scale down to the final details of the development, with nature always playing a part. A series of bespoke branded elements, designed to identify the new timeless garden square, are woven into the fabric of the buildings – from the external façade, feature screens and ironmongery to the door handles and texture that is touched – with each of the residential, office and retail components of the development given its own emblem. Interiors take inspiration from Kensington Palace - from its grand proportions to its flow of spaces. The main residential reception features a procession of spaces, with lift lobbies flowing from left to right. A coffered ceiling amplifies the height of the space, and the grandeur of the palace is referenced with a gold leaf finish inspired by its ornate painted ceilings. Apartment entrances are flooded with daylight, and a rich palette of warm and luxurious materials is complemented by bespoke ironmongery. Views out of apartments are expanded upon with loggias that offer discreet but generous inside-outside living. Resident amenities include communal spa facilities which surround a swimming pool, state-of-the-art gym and treatment rooms, with visual connections designed between them. On-site affordable housing provision managed by Peabody Housing Association takes the form of a mews-like terrace and includes ten apartments and four duplex apartments. The office building features a timeless reception space with georgette walls paired with nickel lift doors and feature signboard. A bespoke nickel reception desk features an embossed vintage map of Kensington and mimics the brass desk in the residential reception. Office floors employ a simple palette with rich finishes within the WC areas, and a unique lower ground floor office features high ceilings and cathedral-like openings. Workspace amenities include spa-like changing rooms, bespoke lockers, a towel drop off and a generous cycle store.
YY London
Canary Wharf is changing and a new generation of users and residents is arriving. As the estate’s expectations change, so must its buildings. YY London is the striking reimagination of a first-generation Canary Wharf building that is focused on the wellbeing of its occupants. Where the previous building was inward-looking, the new building gestures outwards, with more space for retail, restaurants and bars to enliven the public realm and connect with the wider estate. This was achieved by first reinvigorating the public realm and a key ‘face’ of Canary Wharf by improving the image of the building, entirely re-cladding the facade with continuous glazing to bring as much natural light as possible into the building and by creating a new entrance on its southeast corner. We then enhanced the arrival experience, with a triple-height reception defined by natural materials, digital artwork displays, signature furniture pieces and integrated breakout spaces. We created a wellbeing offering within the refurbished workspace that also includes a strong F&B offer at ground-floor with new restaurant and cafe spaces as well as refurbishing all vacant office areas, WCs and communal areas, whilst a pavilion at rooftop level is available for all the building’s users - for leisure or work. Finally, where the previous building had no outdoor spaces for tenants, we created a sequence of new spaces: one for every floor, including a large wraparound terrace for level 12. The large communal roof garden at level 14 has dense, varied planting and integrated outdoor furniture. A new high-performance façade, with solar control coatings, has reduced air permeability, and alongside highly efficient services has the overall energy demand of the building by 62%. The building incorporates demand-controlled ventilation, optimising energy use depending on occupancy, and has a calculated energy use intensity of 57.47kWh/m2 (NIA) – for landlord rated areas, in line with Nabers Design for Performance methodology. The building is all-electric, with rooftop photovoltaic panels, air source heat pumps, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Avoiding demolition of the existing structure has saved 10,260 tonnes of CO2e. The completed building is BREEAM Outstanding; WELL Platinum enabled; has a Platinum WiredScore rating; and incorporates SMART technologies, being one of the first buildings in London to receive a SMARTScore Platinum rating.
One Tower Bridge
The designs for One Tower Bridge were conceived as a lasting new piece of the city which articulates the transition between More London’s contemporary architecture and the warehouse vernacular of Shad Thames, and respects its prominent riverside location on Potters Fields Park adjacent to the Grade I listed Tower Bridge. Designs identified hotel and residential accommodation supported by significant cultural, leisure, restaurant and retail uses, as well as new landscaped public spaces at the centre of the development and pedestrian connections which visually and physically link Tower Bridge with Tooley Street. Defining the edge of Potters Fields Park is Cambridge House, a low horizontal building clad in strips of Catalan Gris limestone, with a double height ground floor accessing the 6,870m2 Bridge Theatre space and The Ivy restaurant. Sharing the same palette and set within a central landscaped courtyard is The Tower, a 20 storey slender ‘campanile’ offering one apartment per floor, topped by a glazed garden terrace. The Catalan Gris stone is offset with finely detailed bronze anodised windows and chamfered recesses. Three apartment blocks with projecting stone balconies are positioned between landscaped gardens at the centre of the development. Two further buildings step down in scale towards Tower Bridge Road, constructed from London stock brick to relate to the adjacent Shad Thames. Interest is added with handset basketweave brickwork and a series of projecting timber balconies. At ground floor are public retail units, including restaurants, cafes, shops, services and a supermarket. A new pedestrian route, Duchess Walk, has been created to maximise views through the site from Tooley Street to th esouth tower of Tower Bridge. This street is animated by shops, cafes as well as a spa and gymnasium.
Eden Dock
Eden Dock, a 1.55-hectare site in Canary Wharf, is a prime example of nature-led placemaking, marking a significant step in the area's evolution from a business district to a mixed-use neighbourhood. Set within the historic London Docklands, the project spans a 325-metre waterway between Jubilee Plaza and Newfoundland. Previously, the dock was inaccessible, unused, and an ecological desert. The project aimed to transform the dock into a publicly accessible, ecologically rich and climate resilient space, supporting the wider transformation of Canary Wharf into a connected nature recovery network. The design strategy reconnects people with the dock through a series of sloped ‘shores’, accessible terraces and timber bleacher seating that descend to water level for the first time. A new north–south footbridge follows natural desire lines, linking local landmarks. Central to the scheme is the floating forest, a modular, biodiverse system of floating gardens inspired by biomimicry. These structures integrate native trees, marginal planting and aquatic habitat into the public realm, enhancing biodiversity and creating immersive experiences. Eden Dock delivers measurable ecological gains, including a 55% biodiversity net gain facilitated by 770m² of floating islands and 42 new trees. Planting includes 70–80 resilient, native species, providing year-round habitat for pollinators, birds and aquatic life. Temporary fencing protects young plants from grazing geese, while bespoke “duck doors” allow safe access for chicks and amphibians. Monitoring to date has identified increases in invertebrate populations and a greater diversity of fish and bird species. Collectively, these measures deliver a 100% uplift in predicted ecosystem service value, including carbon sequestration, a 10% reduction in local urban heat, and long-term improvements to air and water quality. A timber-canopied platform hosts events, performances, school visits and educational sessions. Natural play elements such as “mini worlds,” sandboxes and pond-dipping areas encourage discovery and engagement for children. Interpretive signage, underwater cameras and a marine monitoring station support citizen science and environmental learning. A dedicated open-water swimming area offers direct access to the dock. Sustainable materials were used throughout, including recycled steel, FSC-certified timber and low-carbon concrete. The floating structure avoids concrete piles, reducing construction impact and enabling the entire park to adapt to changing water levels. As the landscape matures, we will continue to monitor ecological outcomes, using AI-based tools to measure changes in biomass and biodiversity over time. Construction was completed in summer 2024, with the dock opening to the public in September and the footbridge to follow in May 2025. The launch featured Nature Rising, a living artwork of 20 sculpted Ligustrum shrubs symbolising harmony between people and nature, now part of Canary Wharf’s permanent public art collection. Early indicators of success include a 7% increase in footfall and a 2.4% rise in local retail sales compared to the previous year, showing Eden Dock’s contribution to wellbeing and vitality. Eden Dock establishes a replicable model for reimagining underused urban infrastructure. It demonstrates how landscape-led design can deliver measurable environmental benefits, support inclusive communities, and create adaptive spaces that respond to climate and ecological emergencies.
Shepherd's Bush Market
The project sees the combination of an upgraded shopping environment with increased retail space for existing and future traders to grow, new public realm and landscaping, co-working spaces, a life science incubator and affordable homes. Supporting Yoo Capital’s pledge to retain the rich cultural identity of Shepherd’s Bush Market, thoughtful improvements have been made throughout the site, including new entrances to improve the flow through the markets, an upgraded canopy with inbuilt lighting to support the traders year-round, and investment into new and existing units to support growth opportunities within the market. The plans for the Old Laundry Yard site accommodate approximately 1,780 jobs within the designed workspace building, and a life science incubator, the largest of its kind in London, will be operated by Imperial College London to drive start-ups and SMEs in affordable workplaces. The site will also bring affordable homes to the area, these have been designed in conjunction with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and will be transferred to the council to own and manage following completion. The special clash of uses and mix of cultures which is at the heart of this historic market, creates authentic fun at street level and above seeking to build upon and enhance the rich culture of the Market and neighbourhood. Sustainability is promoted through community engagement by championing a self supporting ecosystem built upon a refreshed equitable ground plane. Placing a refreshed, equitable and green public realm for the Market at the centre of the masterplan unlocks this historically hidden site. A key concept is to merge the Market and workspace environments creating a clash of life and culture. This is reinforced by four character areas: 1. Shepherd’s Bush Market; is to remain linear, follow the viaduct yet bleed into the workspace and associated public realm; 2. Goldhawk Yard; unlocks an existing public space and connects it to the Market; 3. Pennard Mews; respecting the properties on Pennard Road by providing a modern approach to a traditional industry led mews; 4. Pennard Gardens; provides the affordable housing, amenity and play space for the 40 mixed tenure units.
76 Southbank
Originally designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and completed in 1983 as an office and client marketing centre for IBM, 76 Upper Ground was considered Lasdun’s last major work, and sits adjacent to the National Theatre. Although the building was listed at Grade II in 2020, 18 months into AHMM's appointment, it does not meet modern-day occupier requirements and presented an opportunity for sensitive, qualitative and quantitative improvements both to the building itself and its contribution to the public realm. AHMM’s plans sensitively refurbish and extend the building delivering an additional 11,000m² of flexible and highly sustainable office space for an estimated 1,200 additional jobs. The plans will provide a long-term future for the building, greatly improving and enhancing its setting within the South Bank conservation area. The design retaining over 80% of the existing structure saving 10,171tCO²e of carbon, the equivalent of over 425,000m² of native forest, existing pre-cast concrete cladding panels are refurbished and re-used. Targeting both BREEAM Outstanding and a 5-star certification under the NABERS Design for Performance standard, the building will be highly energy efficient with an upgraded thermal envelope and sustainable energy strategy. Air and water source heat pumps along with photo-voltaic panels create a fully electric building with no fossil fuels used on site. Employee wellbeing is at the heart of the design with a range of flexible spaces provided for tenants to WELL Gold standards. These include 530 cycle parking spaces, end of trip facilities and large outdoor terraces covering over 4,500m² which will be brought to life through a sensitive and considered landscape design which is irrigated using harvested rainwater. Storm water is attenuated though a blue roof system and permeable paving in the public realm which will also include the planting of over 20 new trees. Overall, the development will achieve over a 230% improvement in biodiversity value and an urban greening factor of 0.3 in line with the new London Plan.
Elizabeth line
The Elizabeth line is the most significant contribution to London’s transportation in over 20 years. Officially opened in May 2022, after 12 years in design, construction and delivery, the new line is now part of the London Underground network, running 100km east to west across the city through 42km of new tunnels. Estimated to ultimately carry 200 million passengers per year, increasing the capacity of central London’s underground railway network by 10%, the Elizabeth line connects London from Reading and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood, and reduces previous commuter travel to these areas by up to 30 minutes. The design strategy encompasses the platforms, passenger tunnels, escalators, and station concourses, including details such as signage, furniture, fittings, finishes and technology. From curved cladding to the technology of the wayfinding totems, applying this line-wide design approach creates a consistent journey from above ground to below, and ultimately, a new travel identity for London’s underground railway infrastructure. The design and construction of the line was a success borne from rigorous teamwork. With a consortium of Grimshaw, Atkins, Equation and Maynard in charge of the line-wide architectural components, collaboration with the six architectural practices designing the new stations through central London was paramount to the project’s success. In the pursuit of a strong conceptual framework to guide each station architect’s application of the line-wide language, the teams met through several workshops. Though debate and discussion, a consensus was reached that the individual stations would respond with their own architecture to their context, while descending to the platform tunnels the manifestation of the line-wide identity would strengthen by using a family of cladding, lighting, signage, furniture, and platform edge screens. Overseen by Grimshaw, each station architect applied the consortium’s line-wide design to their underground station environments. The result is recognisable, iconic platform and tunnel design across the line, but as passengers traverse from platform to street (or vice versa) a gradual but distinct confluence of each of the six architect’s aesthetic approaches and the line-wide identity emerges. Each station is simultaneously unique, and part of a well-defined identifiable whole. Collaboration with engineering disciplines also provided numerous successful solutions that would otherwise, as individual teams, been impossible to create. For instance, working with the Crossrail tunnelling team bore a significant innovation that reduced design complexity, construction time and cost: with the engineers lending technical expertise, the design team reduced the number of tunnel diameters across the project, thus reducing the number of tunnel cladding variations resulting in only a few pre-defined curved junctions across the whole line. The team also engaged with manufacturers to prototype architectural and product components during the design development: as different contractors were commissioned for the construction of different stations; this became crucial in achieving the required consistency and quality across the contracts.
Clarges Mayfair
Clarges Mayfair is a landmark development for British Land, comprising residential apartments within a mixed-use development that includes workspace, restaurant and retail. 34 private residences overlook Green Park from a ten-storey building on Piccadilly, with a further 11 affordable apartments located on Clarges Street. The residential offering delivers 24% fully-adaptable affordable homes, while the development as a whole creates a sustainable mix of uses in a series of timeless buildings that are accessible and inclusive. Our approach focussed on creating a highly crafted residential destination as part of a family of new buildings that house the development’s different uses. Located in the heart of Mayfair’s Conservation Area, the design displays a refined and contemporary take on the established streetscape through materials and craftsmanship. Four distinct buildings address the client’s brief to create a cohesive development with an authentically Mayfair character, befitting of the Conservation Area setting. Whilst respecting the rhythm and scale of neighbouring buildings, the development forges its own identity through contemporary craftsmanship in Portland stone, patterned bronze and dark brick. Detail is introduced on hand-carved fluted columns and intricately pattered balconies that reference traditional Piccadil lace collars. Internally, Clarges Mayfair features classic materials including bronze, marble, plaster and porcelain, giving subtle nods to Mayfair’s past. A grand entrance hall features a quadruple height domed ceiling, with a light sculpture designed by Haberdashery. Details on the sweeping staircase balustrade echo traditional watch mechanisms. Interiors by Martin Kemp Design celebrate the best in British craftsmanship, with each apartment featuring a bespoke interiors concept. Throughout apartments and communal areas, materials include black onyx and Nettuno marbles, Tanganika timber and dark stained oak. Rich fabrics, including handwoven tufted carpets in wool and silk feature alongside nickel polished ironmongery, and art-deco inspired doors have embossed metal detailing that references the local street network of Mayfair. Continuing the tradition of Mayfair’s world-class craftsman and ateliers, a handpicked selection of British-based artists and artisans have created bespoke pieces for Clarges Mayfair. These include ‘tapestries’ of cast and gilded flowers by artist Sophie Coryndon, which draw inspiration from the development’s natural surroundings. Three striking decorative copper sculptures by designer-maker Yasemen Hussein are reminiscent of the Elizabethan lace ruffs from which Piccadilly acquired its name. Resident facilities include full lifestyle services, a private cinema room, state-of-the-art gym, hydrotherapy pool, sauna and steam room. A wellness spa and fitness suite provide a luxurious spa experience within the comfort of residents own homes. The design draws on the traditional English spas of Harrogate, Bath and Cheltenham, with the barrel vaulted 25m swimming pool lined with colonnades and cloisters, and tiling features bespoke designs inspired by the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The residential site overlooking Green Park was subject to stringent constraints due to its prestigious setting on Piccadilly. The team sought to create the maximum benefit from the Rights of Light restrictions of the tight site by creating a series of terraces that step back at the upper levels. Ashburton Place, a new public mews, connects Clarges Street and Bolton Street and is the first new street in Mayfair for 15 years. The new route opens up the site, providing physical and visual permeability through it, whilst retail, restaurant and gallery-style reception spaces enliven the street frontages. Off-site prefabrication was used extensively in the construction of the development, including all structure, floor, cladding and service components. This ensured an efficient, coordinated delivery and construction programme, minimised personnel onsite and secured a consistently high quality of finish. The energy strategy for Clarges Mayfair followed the Mayor’s Energy Hierarchy, with investment in high-performance building fabric and energy efficient engineering systems, together with combined heating and power, ground source heat pumps and roof-mounted photovoltaics. A 45% improvement in carbon reduction over Building Regulations 2010 Part L was achieved. Clarges Mayfair responds to the grain and character of the area, opens up the site to create new public space, and provides an enlivened sense of place to a previously unsightly 1960s block. The development has a positive social, environmental and economic impact, and sets a new benchmark for residential spaces in Mayfair, bringing some of the finest homes to London with a crisp, timeless design that draws upon the historic context, each detail designed to embody Mayfair’s illustrious history.
The Kensington Building
PROJECT: The Kensington Building LOCATION: London, UK SIZE: Site area - 2,975 m2 NIA - 11,858 m2 GIA - 15,195 m2 GEA - 15,802 m2 STATUS: Complete - March 2022 BACKGROUND Located at the corner of Kensington High Street and Wrights Lane, 127 Kensington High Street was the former site of the department store Pontings. Now known as The Kensington Building, the bleak, 1970s edifice has been transformed into a mixed-use development that delivers 95,000ft2 of BREEAM Excellent and WELL Standard Gold workspace and 34,000ft2 of retail space. The people-centred design also incorporates12,329ft2 of terraces, promoting bio-diversity and enhancing everyday wellbeing and work-life quality. The remodelling of the building provides improved connectivity with Kensington High Street Underground station via the lively new retail arcade. The Kensington Building is an example of how retail can be reimagined. Through flexible and sustainable architecture, the redundant department store is now delivering relevant and adaptable, mixed-use accommodation. THE CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY The mid-70s building left a legacy that presented both challenge and opportunity. The challenge was urbanistic; an aggressive, brutalist structure that eroded the historic definition of the surrounding streets. The architectural response restored the building’s visual alignment on Wrights Lane with high quality brick and stone elevations, sensitive to the traditions of the neighbourhood. Although contemporary, the building now sits comfortably within its location on Kensington High Street. The opportunity was generosity of space; a lofty interior allowed the building to be extended and renovated with both creativity and integrity. Its generous ceiling heights and high floor loadings allied to a regular grid allowed the radical reconfiguration of the building without requiring its demolition. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN • By remodelling an outdated structure, there have been significant savings in terms of energy and emissions when compared with building from scratch. • 100% of total excavation waste has been diverted from landfill. • 99% of total construction and demolition waste has been diverted from landfill. • 100% of electricity comes from a renewable source. • Re-purposing the building’s existing frame has reduced CO2 emissions by 31.2%. ACHIEVEMENTS • BREAAM - Excellent • EPC - B Rating • WELL Standard - Gold • WiredScore - Platinum • Whole Life Carbon - (60 Years - A1 - C4) 1050kg / CO2E / m2 / GIA.
197 High Street Kensington Completed Buildings – Mixed Use
197KHS was conceived as a substantial, heavyweight building to anchor the end of a historic terrace on this small but prominent corner site. Red brick was identified as the appropriate material choice due to the wealth of historic brick buildings in the conservation area to the south, using a loadbearing form of construction to give the building a solid, authentic quality. A series of deep piers are positioned at regular intervals along the two street-facing facades, with a stepped profile that forms a shoulder to support the sculpted and pigmented pre-cast lintels. To create additional texture and richness, bricks were laid in Flemish bond with lime mortar which has a more granular appearance than the cementitious equivalent. Lustrous, amber-brown glazed bricks were used to construct the piers at the ground floor of the building. Along with double width feature lintels, these form a clearly defined base that supports the upper floors, and provides visual interest at street level. The articulation of the piers and the scalloped faces of the lintels combine to give depth and modulation to the facades, especially when viewed obliquely along the street. Looking upwards, the building meets the sky with an undulating line given by the scalloped copings at roof level.
2 Squirrel Park
Squirrel Park makes innovative use of modified shipping containers to create an affordable single-family home offering around 1,400sqft of living space. The unconventional interior layout contrasts with the modern, industrial exterior aesthetic of repurposed shipping containers. The unique nature of the site as a park-like environment has been enhanced through retention of existing mature trees, provision of outdoor spaces with new planting which is shared with its neighbours and the addition of green roof to assist energy efficiency and biodiversity. The mirrored strips on the container’s white-painted exterior reflect the sky and surrounding greenery, helping to create a dematerialised mass whilst also reducing heat gain from the harsh Oklahoma sun. Located at the transition between the typical residential fabric along 32nd Street and the commercial corridor along Classen Boulevard, the site is entered by a single entrance and carport shared with its three neighbours. This outdoor amenity space acts as a buffer to the commercial property to the west whilst also giving the project the idea of a residential community. The house is designed to encourage outdoor living as well as communal interaction amongst neighbouring residents on the wider site. There is a central gathering space whilst the house itself has a front facing porch swing and covered outdoor space to provide areas to relax and socialise with one’s neighbours. However, the house’s windows and orientation have been carefully controlled to provide privacy where needed as well as an ‘eyes on the street’ approach for safety. By reusing modular steel shipping containers, the design can be set above the ground on piles which preserves the natural drainage patterns of the site. The upper-floor container is shifted to cantilever 10 feet above the lower floor container creating a covered front porch as well as an upper-level deck off the master bedroom. The design also needed to respond to Oklahoma’s extreme climate - tornadoes, intense sun and heat. Therefore, not only are the containers reinforced with additional tube steel, but the lifting hubs are also fully welded to imbed plates in the footings. The resulting structure surpasses local residential building code tie-down requirements. Inside, metal stud framing is set 1 inch off from the steel shell and encased in 5 inches of closed-cell spray foam insulation, further isolating the interior environment. The extremely tight exterior envelope and high degree of insulation allow a significant reduction in tons of cooling when compared to a conventional wood framed single family home.
A New Home for the LSO at London Wall West
Since the Museum of London vacated its London Wall home, the future of this key site remains unclear. Earlier proposals for cultural-led regeneration - the Centre for Music - were commercially unviable and the Corporation’s later office-led alternative provoked deep local scepticism about the loss of culture on this pivotal site and the acceptability of demolishing Bastion House against the City’s own planning policy in the context of the climate emergency. Last year the Corporation invited regeneration-led proposals and we were commissioned by Lloyd Lee of Yoo Capital and the London Symphony Orchestra to explore a culturally-led regeneration route that would retain Bastion House and deliver on the Corporation’s Destination City vision to transform the square mile into a world-leading leisure destination. The scheme delivers what London has long lacked, a first-class symphonic venue and a new hall lies as the centre of a wider education and cultural offer which will transform the character and vibrancy of this key nodal location. Bastion House is refurbished as a first-class hotel. The building, by distinguished architects Powell and Moya has a grand transfer structure at its base. Our proposals weave a series of landscaped garden terraces within this great portal linking one of London’s oldest public spaces - the Roman Wall Gardens up to one of its newest - a proposed public park created above the concert hall. To the west, a new office offers the highest standards of wellbeing and energy efficiency underpins the overall economics of the proposals which will deliver the concert hall without cost to the public purse. Aligned to City Planning Policy, our proposals take a ‘retrofit first’ approach to retain and reuse Bastion House the principal building on the site. The upper floors of the museum - a building too bespoke to repurpose - would be disassembled and reused in the construction of the new office building. While the cut slabs of the museum structure would lose their tensile strength, it is proposed to reassemble the harvested segments in shallow vaults so they act wholly in compression. In total 30% of the new office tower superstructure would be constructed from harvested materials, and 43% of the overall proposed structure would be retained as existing or harvested. Locating the concert hall at the centre of the site - a naturally low-rise structure - enhancing the setting of the Ironmongers Hall and retains good daylight levels to residential neighbours in the Barbican. While the cut slabs of the museum structure would lose their tensile strength, it is proposed to reassemble the harvested segments in shallow vaults so they act wholly in compression. In total 30% of the new office tower superstructure would be constructed from harvested materials, and 43% of the overall proposed structure would be retained as existing or harvested. Locating the concert hall at the centre of the site - a naturally low-rise structure - enhancing the setting of the Ironmongers Hall and retains good daylight levels to residential neighbours in the Barbican.
US Embassy in London
The US State Department envisioned a new embassy in London that would serve as the centerpiece of one of America's longest-standing and most valued relationships. It also aspired to set a new paradigm in embassy design by representing the ideals of the American government—giving priority to transparency, openness, and equality, and drawing on the best of American architecture, engineering, technology, art, and culture. Our challenge for the Embassy was to encompass these values, creating a strong sense of welcome while also meeting specific functional requirements for security, diplomatic work, and environmental sustainability. The Nine Elms district, a South Bank industrial zone under intense redevelopment, is a unique setting for the new Embassy. With an estimated 1,000 daily visitors and 800 staff, the Embassy is poised to establish a strong framework for the urbanization of Nine Elms. A civic plaza and park contribute to this revitalization by connecting the Thames embankment and Nine Elms Lane to a new pedestrian greenway extending from Vauxhall Station to Battersea. The Embassy stands at the center of this burgeoning area of London, with a public park containing a pond, walkways, seating, and landscape along its edges. Curving walkways continue into the interior of the building with gardens on each floor that extend the spiraling movement upward. The internal gardens evoke American landscapes, enhancing circulation by providing alternative paths through the building and informal meeting and gathering spaces. The form of the Embassy is a transparent crystalline cube set atop a monumental colonnade—a radiant beacon at the heart of Nine Elms. Its high-performance facade is made of laminated glazing and an outer envelope of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a transparent film shaped to minimize solar gain and glare, affording generous natural light throughout the interior and access to the site’s striking views. The tonality of the envelope shifts with the weather and time of day. With sustainable initiatives including brownfield redevelopment, natural habitat creation, healthy and responsibly sourced building materials, and energy efficient equipment, the Embassy is on track to receive LEED Platinum, BREEAM Outstanding, and EPC-A+ ratings and is on track to achieve net carbon neutrality as defined by BREEAM, pending construction phase review. The Embassy takes a two-fold approach to sustainability. First, the building’s energy efficient design conserves as much energy and water as possible through strategies such as daylight-responsive lighting and shade controls, passive and active chilled beams, grey water recycling, and efficient mechanical systems. The landscaped pond is part of an integrated water system that aims to retain all rainwater that falls on the site for landscape irrigation and to keep pollution out of local waterways. Second, the Embassy harnesses renewable resources including solar energy gathered by photovoltaic cells and geothermal energy generated through ground source heat pumps, which use the consistent temperature of the earth to heat and cool the building. The Embassy maximizes efficiency by simultaneously creating heat and electricity by way of combined heat and power (CHP) units. This system generates enough energy to satisfy the Embassy’s power and heating needs while also creating an excess that can be exported to the local community. The design for the new Embassy represents a holistic fusion of urbanism, building, and landscape. It is both evocative and performative, helping to define a new environment for diplomacy while mapping a passage toward a diplomacy for the environment.
Elsley House, Design Studio
After 10 years in London, our client had outgrown their Soho base. The search began for new premises that could accommodate five teams that were spread across three sites, as well as being a springboard for future growth. The client settled on refurbishing and remodelling the ground and lower ground floor of an Art Deco building with a prominent street presence in Fitzrovia. Elsley House is a model and testbed for best practice workplace design. So how does a global design practice transform a neglected 1930s space into a productive, elegant and futureproofed workplace that exactly fits its culture, personality, and ambitions? The aim was to design for a studio culture, enable a cross-fertilisation of ideas, promote staff health and wellbeing, and to celebrate design excellence in all its forms. Drawing upon our expertise in evidence-based workplace strategy, our starting point was to research employee needs, behaviours and workstyles. From this, we designed spaces to address collective requirements, such as areas that promote chance conversations that stimulate idea generation, improve connectivity between floors, and accommodate different modes of working. A set of workplace guidelines (called LiveIt) was developed in tandem with this process and enshrine four concepts at the heart of our workplaces: studio culture, flexibility, collaboration and the idea that the studio serves as a Living Lab for the exploration and evolution of advanced workplace strategies and design solutions. Expansive ‘shop windows’ give the design practice a real opportunity to offer a glimpse of what lies within and celebrate the work of people and organisations that ignite creativity, inspire admiration, practise design excellence, and provoke debate. This was to be a flexible space, able to adapt to fulfilling many different roles: architectural front-of-house, enabling workplace, event venue, collaboration space, gallery and showcase, the ultimate live commercial interiors case study (or living ‘workplace’ lab), social and learning space for staff, engine room for projects… but most of all, a place to be proud of. The response includes space to showcase the work of artists, photographers, designers, thinkers, and makers. Space to run everything from workshops for children, to conferences for professionals. Space to host meetings of minds and spark serendipitous collaborations, in the design community, the built environment community, and the local community. On entering reception, visitors step into a creatively enriching space, with a programme of exhibitions, workshops, and talks. They might bear witness to a brainstorm or collective design review, with participants gathered in the generous collaborative space. Beyond are the design and operations teams. Within the studios a variety of settings cater for both privacy and community. The objective was to create an environment that organically responds to individual and group activities, always providing the right space for the task, be it learning, focusing, sharing, socialising or collaborating. The workplace is designed to support 20 distinct work modes with 11 types of collaborative space and eight types of individual work space. The studio is designed to meet exacting WELL and BREEAM standards, and has achieved BREEAM Excellent, with WELL registration to follow shortly. It embraces spaces, configurations and technology that engender creativity and collaboration, allowing for flexibility within teams and the wider practice.
Maida Smiles Dental Clinic
Maida Smiles is a world-class cosmetic dental clinic located in the City of Westminster, northwest London. Principal dentist Pedro Gutierres was seeking an architect firm who could deliver a unique and memorable brand and design concept for its new high street premises in Maida Vale. Due to the setting and nature, this project required sophistication to mirror the affluent surroundings dubbed ‘Little Venice’ - defined by its Regency style with white Stucco buildings. It also needed to be visually engaging while promoting the personality of the clinic with a progressive feel in keeping with the advanced cosmetic work taking place onsite. The design inspiration centred around an interpretation of ceramic dental implants which are commonly used in restorative dentistry. This took the form of more than 500 hand-crafted ceramic discs which cover the walls in a honeycomb-style cluster, providing a modern, clean and clinical edge. The design also features a hidden curvilinear door leading to the main clinical area which effectively disappears when shut blending back into the wall. The ‘wrap-around’ ceramic wall design with curving corners helps bring movement and provides connection and continuity to the outside realm. While the reception desk itself is made of concrete linking the floor and ceiling while limiting the use of excessive materials. Another key aspect involved the technical design within the actual dental theatres, which required a deep understanding of workflow, equipment and procedures within surgical and operating areas. Many factors must be carefully considered in these live working environments, including careful management of space and movement of people. Practical and ergonomic solutions for technical equipment, instruments and waste disposal are also fundamental and must work seamlessly with any design concept. The overall result for Maida Smiles is a minimalist, free-flowing design which maximises the use of space. The custom-made ceramic wall and iconic furniture also work in tandem to create an interesting dynamic, affecting surfaces, light and reflection. This project helps illustrates how an artisan design approach - involving acute attention to detail and delicate craftmanship - helps deliver tailored solutions meeting individual clients' needs. It further demonstrates the benefit of a collaborative approach centred around an open, honest and transparent working relationship between architects and clients.
Otro Football Offices
We were commissioned in 2018 to design the headquarters for new Football Media Company, Otro, in London, UK, as started up by David Beckham. Otro brings together 17 of the world’s superstar footballers on one media platform including Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. The design is based on our contemporary design principals that we explored in our future workplace research project, which includes biophilic and sustainable design principals, flexible workspace design and the integration of emerging technologies. As a new company, there had been a limited amount of visual branding carried out prior to our commission and so we wanted the architectural design to emanate the brand through integrated branding elements and by creating the right balance between a space that felt sporty and yet sophisticated and premium at the same time. It features sporty black interiors with accents of the Otro colour of neon green on service pipes and lighting. The spaces are divided into five specific areas along the long axis of the building, separating a reception and ‘Augmented Reality field’ area, a cafe/bar and meeting area, a lounge and amphitheater area surrounded by working desk area, and finally a relaxation area at the far end of the building. Translucent projection screens hang down from the ceiling showing the latest scores and data, as well as their players in action. The exterior of the building remains fairly subtle and in keeping with the neighborhood, while the large arched windows provide a clear public view into the Augmented Reality activated public gallery used for promotional, hosting and leisure purposes. The roof top provides space for the solar panels, a roof garden and roof terrace for employees.
RSBC Life Without Limits Centre
EPR is proud to support the Royal Society for Blind Children with its mission to empower the young blind and partially sighted community to live a life without limits. There are 39,000 blind and vision-impaired children in England and Wales, with four more diagnosed each day. Over 90% of those who lose their sight in youth will never go on to have a long-term job. 65% of blind people live on or below the poverty line and are 2-3 times more likely to have depression, with most struggling to form meaningful relationships. Completed in January 2022, the UK’s first Life Without Limits Centre will ensure blind children can gain independence and live a fulfilling life. Embodying the RSBC’s positive approach, the centre is an engaging hub of activity — providing flexible spaces for blind and partially sighted children to socialise and learn essential skills, whilst also providing a contemporary workspace for the charity’s staff. At the core of the project is the sustainable re-use of an existing space, preventing the carbon impact of demolition and the emissions of an entirely new-build scheme. Transforming part of an existing basement car park in the City of London’s Northern and Shell Building, the centre is a new enriching place - where staff and visitor wellbeing is at the heart of the design. In keeping with RSBC’s approach to blindness, we have embraced the challenges of the existing space - utilising the layout to create an optimal and flexible floor plan. Structural columns were retained and incorporated into the internal walls and space partitions, minimising obstacles and introducing a fluid circulation space with pocket snugs and private family support rooms, flexible workspace, meeting rooms, a training kitchen, a media suite, creative suite and high-quality end of journey facilities. Creative architectural interventions have created a new exclusive entrance on the Thames Path, providing vulnerable visitors with a safe, tranquil entry to the centre. With iconic views of London landmarks, proximity to water and better air quality, this uplifting arrival experience greatly enhances guest wellbeing. A major success is that the space doesn’t feel underground. Our innovative architectural solution utilises the existing double-height area to create an open entrance and reception lounge – allowing natural light to flood into the building. Working closely with the blind community, our investigative approach ensured the space was simultaneously inclusive and aesthetically pleasing. Carefully considered high contrast and tactile materials with varying surface finishes, acoustic levels, smells and colours help blind and vision-impaired guests navigate and distinguish the various zones within the building. EPR’s design creates a home away from home, reminding the world that blind people deserve the same quality of space as sighted people. Weekly events at the centre are for the wellbeing and enjoyment of the children and their families. Cooking classes, sensory workshops, indoor forest school, assistive technology sessions and events in the local area such as touch tours and theatre trips provide them with invaluable opportunities to build confidence, friendships and learn essential life skills.
The Department Store Studios
The Department Store Studios is a four-storey contemporary workspace building in Brixton, South London. The new development creates a platform for growing businesses with 13,000 sq ft of flexible workspaces - from individual desks to private studios - and a host of serviced social and meeting areas. The Studios is also home to a neighbourhood bar/restaurant and screening room. The crafted red brick building takes inspiration from the robust Edwardian architecture of its neighbour The Department Store, with patterned brickwork and contemporary faceted bay windows. A setback fourth floor creates generous external terraces and is planted with a green roof and solar panels that create renewable energy on site. Internally, designs are centred on sustainability and celebrating the honesty of raw materials. Establishing a stripped back aesthetic, the cross laminated timber frame and brick finishes are exposed throughout, offset by polished plaster and smooth grey screed floors, with exposed services encased in suspended metal trays. Large openable windows lessen the need for artificial heating and cooling, and an advanced lighting system ensures natural daylight from all four sides of the building is only supplemented when necessary. Bellefields, the ground floor restaurant offers modern Mediterranean cuisine, with interiors that reflect the menu’s celebration of seasonal, raw ingredients through an honest expression of natural materials and a colour palette inspired by the seasons. Separated from the restaurant by a central bar, a members’ lounge provides a relaxed clubhouse environment for member tenants or freelance workers. On the workspace floors, generous floor to ceiling heights take inspiration from the proportions of The Department Store next door. Shared facilities include phone booths, bookable rooms and sociable kitchens, dining tables and lounge areas. Workspaces are designed in a simple loft style with added domestic comforts including rugs, plants and artwork. Meeting room interiors are tailored for high or low tempo tasks, with colour palettes that correspond to the four seasons to add individual character. Workspaces comprise a mix of individual desks and private studios for 6 to 70 people, with a large communal roof terrace on the third floor. The fourth floor, configured as a single tenant floor, enjoys a private roof terrace that wraps around two sides of the building with views across central London. At basement level, a neighbourhood screening room is provided for tenants and the local community, and members have access to cycle storage, lockers, showers and changing, promoting sustainable travel. The development supports local businesses with an annual residency scheme which provides free workspace and mentoring for young entrepreneurs, and an events programme curated to share skills, inspire creativity and expand local networks.
The Frames
The Frames is a bespoke development tailored to small and creative businesses in Shoreditch. The five-storey building creates 80,000 sq. ft. of flexible workspace for London’s new and growing companies, providing office and studio units to suit a variety of users, along with shared meeting rooms, break-out areas, tea points, cycle storage, shower facilities and a café. The client, Workspace, sought an exemplar creative development showcasing a move away from their standard ‘business centre’ model towards a co-working approach, whilst retaining individual business units and maximising lettable area. With the existing building failing to contribute to the South Shoreditch Conservation Area, the team committed to crafting an intrinsically ‘Shoreditch’ development, designed to relate to the area’s traditional warehouse vernacular whilst providing a contemporary office building. The building envelope therefore employs a palette of brick, metal and glass. Following the curved line of Phipp Street with a series of brick columns punctuated by corten-clad window reveals, the design emphasises the vertical proportions of the structure. The top two floors of the building are set back and feature twisted dark grey perforated aluminium fins, which reference the historical textile manufacturing history of the neighbourhood and provide solar shading. A language of raw materials and finishes continues inside the building, with polished concrete floors, exposed soffits, corten-clad lift cores and a striking folded steel staircase. An art installation in the reception area by renowned artist Mr. Jago creates a unique double-height mural. Interiors at The Frames were designed to create a relaxed and comfortable aesthetic in contrast to the raw industrial finishes of the building. Inspiration was drawn from traditional trades in Shoreditch from the 1830s-1910s, which included textile manufacturing, press-printing and furniture making. On entering the building, the striking mural establishes a vibrant colourscape for the main ground floor reception, and acts as a backdrop to a folded perforated metal staircase. A bespoke reception desk formed from raw polished steel with a dark oak top references the area’s industrial heritage. An open plan lounge for informal and social meetings is furnished with contemporary Scandinavian tables and seating, upholstered in grey or black textured fabrics with accents of orange and mustard to complement the artwork and the corten steel of the lift lobbies and exterior. The twisted metal fins on the outside of the building are carried through internally to create subtle partitions between the different spaces on the ground floor. Beyond the lounge space is a working area that comprises both open plan space and private desk booths. The bespoke design of the desk booths marries black stained ply with cork lining, and provides focused personal work zones. Tables are metal framed with reclaimed teak tops that will lighten over time, and seating includes the iconic ‘Robin Day 675’ chairs – upholstered in a special edition grey fabric as a nod to the textile history of the area. All furniture in this space is moveable for flexible working, functions and presentations, with a drop down presentation screen incorporated into the ceiling design. At the summit of the metal staircase is an open plan first floor breakout space with workspace units beyond, and a glazed bridge which links to a glass walled meeting room – the Mr. Jago artwork extending into the room to create a feature wall. Chair upholstery fabrics are selected to highlight the vibrant orange tones in the artwork. The design of breakout spaces on all work floors is light and comfortable, with soft furnishings set against concrete finishes and low pendant lights providing intimacy to the seating areas. Patterned tiles in the tea points, WCs and showers introduce ornamentation in muted colours to balance the concrete and metal surfaces. On the upper levels, workspace units offer concrete floors and ceilings together with whitewashed walls to create a blank canvas for inhabitants. The shadows cast inside the rooms by the external perforated fins add a layer of visual interest to the spaces and change throughout the day with the movement of the sun. A strong graphic identity is used throughout the building to assist with way-finding, created by Squire & Partners in collaboration with their sister branding company, Mammal. The new development establishes a positive connection to its setting and creates a modern and inspiring workplace.
The Opera Terrace, Covent Garden
The project sets a precedent at Covent Garden of how a thoroughly contemporary addition demands fastidious attention to formal design and key details. Our client sought to replace the existing, outdated restaurant structures with a world class design, set against the Grade II* listed Covent Garden Market building. Planning and Listed Building Consents were granted in September 2015. Construction commenced in April 2016 and was completed in April 2017 with Sushi Samba opening in November 2018. The proposal was inspired by the architecture of the Opera Terrace with its Tuscan colonnade supporting the terrace, two pavilions at each end of the colonnade and a pediment surmounted by RW Sievier’s sculptures of the Flora and Pomona, and Cupid. The centres of the columns dictated the rhythm of the new glass-and-steel structure, and the widths of the glazing mullions and pleats reference Georgian and Victorian measures. The pediment and sculptures determined the new roofline, which dips down gradually, in glazed steps from the pavilions. The delicate structure and the ‘low-iron’ glass elevations deliver a transparent envelope. The glass roof is slightly reflective, with coatings to control the thermal comfort. Internally, the exposed steel trusses lattices produce the structure’s undulating rhythm with the stainless steel bead blast and electro-polish finish more jewellery-like than High-Tech. The new structure was erected on a transfer floor which sits above the original stone slabs and carries loads down to the stone columns below. In the northeast pavilion a new lift-shaft was added and a ‘floating’ elliptical staircase winds around a tapered and discreetly anchored beam, forming the new public entrance. The Opera Terrace sympathetically relates the new structure to the historic Market Building; the new passenger lift improved the accessibility; the area of covered restaurant and kitchen space is now doubled with an enhanced external terrace.
Walthamstow EMD Cinema
Pilbrow & Partners are working with Soho Theatre, Waltham Forest Council and Downing to restore this Grade II* listed super cinema to form the centrepiece of the borough’s cultural regeneration strategy. The cinema is recognised to be of national significance as a rare surviving example of the extravagant and flamboyant work of the Granada Group and their famed designers Cecil Aubrey Masey, and Theodore Komisarjevsky, working at the height of the cinema boom of the 1930s. The building has been derelict for a decade. Our plans restore it as a new live performing arts venue. The auditorium will be restored to be a leading venue for live entertainment, capable of hosting pantomime, music and cinema events, with other parts of the building converted to host a diverse range of education and arts-related activities. The cultural and educational uses will be supported by restaurants and bars. In totality, the site will thus become a vibrant hub of culturally-led activity by day and night, and a major contributor to the local economy.
Alexandra Palace East Wing Regeneration Project
The regeneration of the East Wing of the 'People’s Palace' has breathed new life into a much-loved cultural icon, bringing spaces that have been inaccessible to the public for 80 years back into use. Focussed on the Victorian Theatre, East Court and adjoining areas, some far-reaching interventions were called for, but of paramount importance was the preservation of the evocative and layered character that made these spaces unique – a fragile quality that could have been destroyed by well-meaning repair. After its opening in 1875, and although initially successful, audiences for the Alexandra Palace theatre soon dwindled. The space then served as a cinema and, during the First World War, as a chapel and hospital. When the BBC occupied the East Wing of the Palace from 1936 - inaugurating the world’s first scheduled television broadcast – the theatre became their props store and scenery workshop. Finally, for 30 years, the space lay abandoned and almost forgotten. This eventful history is legible on the surfaces and in the fabric of the building: its inception in a period of grandeur, overlaid with decades of alteration, damage and slow decay. All of this is integral to the atmosphere, the character and the story of this space. Working in close collaboration with the client, our approach to bringing the theatre back to life was thus a conservation and a business planning challenge. While the theatre is unique in many ways, the London theatre scene is highly competitive, and Ally Pally is a long way from the West End hub. Attracting new audiences to a space that was unknown was a major challenge. Our approach was to focus first on what makes Ally Pally theatre unique – its extraordinary scale, richly evocative interiors and its potential to provide an exceptionally atmospheric but highly flexible space. Our work preserves this special character while carrying out significant alterations and insertions. The services and infrastructure demanded by contemporary theatrical production have been meticulously and discreetly integrated into the listed fabric of the building. Behind the scenes, extensive engineering works have been undertaken. The theatre’s sloping floor has been replaced with a new, level one. This enables performances to be drawn out from the stage into the auditorium itself in contemporary formats never conceived by its Victorian designers. Seating was added above the two side corridors built in a 1920s remodelling, the better to surround performers with their audience. We also inserted an entirely new circle balcony structure immediately above the original, to increase the rake and improve sightlines into the middle of the auditorium. The result is a sense of intimacy that’s surprising for such a large space. Above this voluminous room, the roof structure has been re-engineered to support a grid of 64 rigging points which carry the scenery, lighting and audio equipment necessary for modern productions. These extensive works, however, are masked by the elaborate plasterwork ceiling. Found to be in very fragile condition, it has been conserved and consolidated from above but, where pieces were missing or damaged, they have not been restored. As with other historic surfaces, the ceiling is treated and presented “as found”; as an artefact that tells of the opulence, decay and rebirth of the theatre. In a sense, our challenge has been to change everything yet to change nothing. Ultimately, we wanted people to have the same reaction to the space that we had ourselves when we first saw it before the project began. The East Court, a vast glazed space originally conceived as an exhibition hall, has many roles to play in the contemporary Palace complex. It provides an important public face to the Palace, as well as being seen as an extension of the park. It is now an entrance hall, an exhibition space, a venue for functions and events, a meeting place. It is a multi-functional, accessible space, welcoming visitors in to learn about the people and events that define the extraordinary 140-year story of the ‘People’s Palace’, bringing this history to life for the broadest possible audience, and providing opportunities for visitors to create their own connections and stories. The exhibition design here embodies the long history of stage and scenery at the Palace, using a language of demountable, large-scale structures that can be reconfigured to tell future stories as the Palace reassumes its place in contemporary London. Vital to the success of reinventing this space for its many uses, and key to attracting new audiences, was the need to express the sense of fun and spectacle that the Palace has always embodied. This is not the place for architectural solemnity. A major intervention is the new floor, designed to provide the canvas for a vibrant 1000sqm artwork painted by graphic artists Art+Believe. Elsewhere, a new decorative scheme for the Victorian fabric has been implemented, based on ‘paint scrapes’ and historic research into previous colour schemes. This does not reinstate any particular earlier colour scheme, but is built up from elements of these. The outcome is not slavish replication, but an informed and coherent scheme that brings together the character of the space and its contents. In developing and describing an approach for this project, we used the term “arrested decay” to describe an approach of consolidation rather than restoration. We addressed the mechanisms of deterioration, removed elements that were unsafe or could not viably be repaired, and presented the result to public view as a direct manifestation of the stories embodied in all of these spaces. “The biggest injection in funding in a generation, the East Wing project has achieved so much for the Palace, not just the physical restoration but our ability to engage new audiences and deliver a broader spectrum of entertainment, and FCBStudios’ desire, determination, skills and experience were fundamental to this. We are delighted with the outcome and we hope FCBStudios are as proud as we are of this monumental chapter in Alexandra Palace’s journey to becoming a vibrant cultural icon for London.” Emma Dagnes, Deputy Chief Executive, Alexandra Palace.
Apparatus
Apparatus London is an elegant showroom and gallery inspired by 1930s architecture and Persian hospitality. We designed the space in close collaboration with Apparatus, an interdisciplinary design studio focused on lighting and objects, with showrooms also in New York and Los Angeles. The 3,800 sqft retail space sits across two levels in a Grade II listed building. The design taps into the emotional, human potential of interiors and the objects that inhabit them. Robust materials were carefully selected to maximise longevity and reduce maintenance costs over the building’s life cycle. We invested in quality craftsmanship to achieve meticulous detail across every aspect of the design by working with centuries-old contractors, Takenaka, and specialist joiners, Seamers, both operating locally in London. The ground floor is a dreamlike, chalky space where materiality displays a gentle patina and bespoke net drapery diffuses sunlight. Nods to classical architecture are present in non-structural columns and geometric motifs. A custom-built ceiling was developed to allow simple reconfiguration of the gallery. Bespoke lighting and objects can be displayed anywhere within the space to suit different layouts and modes of expression. A concealed structural frame transfers weight to the basement enabling flexibility of the ceiling that can support the weight of two tonnes. The elegant square motif that appears across the ceiling is seen around the walls with circular detailing. The balance of movement within the plaster on the main walls was delivered with artistic precision. Hand-selected Italian Calacatta Classico marble was cut to replicate overhead panels and meticulously laid to mirror them. The sweeping curve of the stair was modelled off-site then installed in a series of v-grooved lacquered walnut burl panels. The bespoke detailing of the stair is finished with a brass handrail wrapped in hand-stitched suede and brass stair nosings which match the grooved details of the wall panelling. The palette changes as you transition from the lighter ground floor to the staircase and lower level. Shades of taupe and chocolate are used sumptuously, with a velvet ceiling, deep plush carpet and bronzed mirror panelling as the backdrop.
Beazley
Perkins&Will was appointed to lead the relocation of Beazley’s London headquarters. Beazley wanted a transformational workspace, which is pioneering in their industry. Insurance companies historically have traditional office environments, but Beazley wanted to differentiate itself from typical insurance firms. They embraced new ways of working, opting for activity-based working and varied settings, prioritising employee experience and wellbeing. Choosing 22 Bishopsgate was one of the first and key decisions in the process, and Beazley was one of the first companies to commit to the building. The basebuild boasts excellent sustainability credentials, from construction to occupancy. When selecting a location for their new office, Beazley wanted a building that would reflect their own views and practices when it comes to the environmental impact. Perkins&Will worked with Munira Hirji, Global Head of Commercial Management, to bring the concept to life. Munira’s vision was to reflect Beazley’s position as being ‘different from the rest' and achieve best-in-class results, taking inspiration from the hospitality sector and prioritising wellness.
Battersea Power Station Phase Two
Battersea Power Station was built in two phases before and after the Second World War to designs by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott with interiors by J Theo Halliday. Decommissioned in 1983, it became London’s most famous derelict building, vulnerable despite its Grade II*Listed Status and its iconic profile familiar in popular culture. Subject to a series of stalled development schemes it suffered from decay and partial demolition. The power station was added to the Heritage at Risk register in 1991 and remained there for 30 years until its removal in November 2021. Redevelopment finally became possible through purchase by a consortium of Malaysian companies purchasing the 42-acre site in 2012 and the establishment of the UK-based Battersea Power Station Development Company. The centre of a new neighbourhood, Battersea Power Station Phase II is a true mixed-use scheme of considerable complexity. The enormous brick landmark accommodates new offices, retail, residential, event and leisure uses. The surrounding area has been reinvented as a new park and public space. Delivered through long-term investment, the scheme has also contributed to a new Zone 1 Underground Station, while an onsite energy centre provides low-carbon heating, cooling and electricity to the development. The lower parts of the building, including former Turbine Halls (A & B) dating from the 1930s and 1950s are now open as retail, food and beverage galleries while conserving the best of their heritage features, flanked by Switch Houses East & West each with approximately 100 residential units, while the upper part of the central Boiler House is being fitted out as offices for Apple with an event space beneath. The roofs of all main volumes have fully planted gardens, and the roof of the Boiler House accommodates spectacular “villa” accommodation between the iconic chimneys. As lead architect, WilkinsonEyre has taken the design from concept to detail and delivery of this major regeneration project. From the meticulous restoration of key heritage features, such as Control Room A, to bold new structural interventions such as the bow string trusses holding up south entrance walls, the WilkinsonEyre design team have ensured that new and old share a consistent aesthetic. There is a purposeful juxtaposition of historic brick with glass and ceramic tile with contemporary steel. Bricks were sourced from the original brickfields in the midlands to repair the external walls. In Turbine Hall A, the grandeur Art Deco of the faience and internal fenestration is complemented by bespoke designs for the balustraded galleries and bridges that now animate this large volume, filled with natural light from beautifully restored skylights above. In the Boiler House, two spectacular entrance atria now greet visitors arriving from the north and south, showcasing the original walls with their patina of age set off by new roof lights through which the iconic chimneys can be seen from below. The restoration and new interventions have been achieved without losing the sense of scale, drama and history that makes Battersea Power Station.
Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?
Universal Design Studio were commissioned by the Wellcome Collection to design the ‘Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?’ exhibition. The exhibition comprises of over 200 objects including posters, illuminated pharmacy signs and digital teaching aids. ‘Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?’ considers the role of graphic design in constructing and communicating healthcare messages around the world. Highlighting the widespread and often subliminal nature of graphic design in shaping the environment and our health, the exhibition draws from public and private collections around the world and features work from influential figures in graphic design from the 20th century as well as from studios and individual designers. Universal Design Studio collaborated with graphic designer Lucienne Roberts and design educator Rebecca Wright, founders of GraphicDesign&, with Shamita Sharmacharja at Wellcome Collection.
Bishops Square Retail
The latest phase of the Bishops Square development transforms Lamb Street into a new public space with retail and food kiosks, reimagines Market Street as a vibrant new shopping street, and creates Bishops Square Gardens with new landscaping and bespoke street furniture. Lamb Street Inspired by the East End’s historic industrial warehouses, the new oxide red steel structure on Lamb Street acts as a marker for the latest phase of the development and activates the north side of the site. The two-storey building complements the mix of independent retailers and market traders operating in Bishops Square and the wider area. A larger unit, on the level above, can be accessed via a double-height entrance space at one end of the building. The structure responds to its immediate surroundings, with warmer natural materials cladding the northern façade that faces Elder Gardens. Market Street Market Street is reimagined as a vibrant new shopping street that is open to the elements. Shop frontages have been extended outwards, beyond the existing colonnade, narrowing the street and creating a more intimate shopping experience. Bishops Square Gardens The project creates three distinctive landscaped areas, with bespoke street furniture designed by Foster + Partners’ industrial design team. The Adaptive Plaza serves as a gateway to the heart of Bishops Square. It is a flexible outdoor space that incorporates tiered pyramid seating for informal gatherings or community events. The Urban Living Room is a naturally shaded space for outdoor meetings and social gatherings. The Lawns significantly increase the amount of green space for local people, office workers and visitors. The existing water feature, Charnel House and several mature trees have been retained and fused into the new landscape. The wider platform benches enable larger groups to sit, work or eat together in the heart of the garden.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Headquarters
The design enhances BAFTA’s international identity as the centre of excellence for motion picture arts in Film, Games and Television; integrating innovative state-of-the-art technology and cost-in-use efficiency while sensitively balancing education/learning and public access with members’ needs and revenue generation, ensuring the charity’s long-term social, environmental & economic sustainability. The comprehensive expansion of BAFTA’s grade II Listed 195 Piccadilly headquarters; the charity’s home since 1974. Built in 1883 as the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour when newly snubbed by neighbours the Royal Academy; its size, layout and old services severely limited BAFTA’s ability to deliver an ever-wider range of charitable activities. A new Crown Estate lease taking BAFTA beyond its 100th anniversary prompted commissioning Benedetti as architects & interior designers for a full expansion and redesign. The 2,050m2 iconic building was tired, unfit-for-purpose and expensive to run/maintain. The design creates 2465m2 state-of-the-art spaces with greater flexibility, balancing the charity’s education/learning programmes with members’ needs and raising income. At the heart of the design is the Learning & New Talent floor floor (including the Clore Duffield Foundation’s 1st UK learning space dedicated to moving images) a core of the charity’s mission, enabling them to support the inspiration and training of diverse young creatives in Film, Games and Television. The design facilitates BAFTA’s capability to reach underrepresented communities, ie: bespoke support for ±4,000/yr talented individuals; via events/competitions/initiatives equipping ±80,000/yr with tools for a career in film/games/TV, and engaging ±10 million/yr learners online. The design significantly increases usable area, doubling capacity & WC’s, reconfiguring infrastructure to improve fire safety, energy performance, acoustics, thermal comfort, useability. The unifying interior design of well-detailed classic materials enhances BAFTA’s unique character, celebrates its historic assets. The inventive re-working of various combinations of spaces, volumes, views and sequential movement enables robust charitable/commercial adaptability and opportunities for special-event theatrical ‘reveals’, securing long-term social/economic sustainability. Most strikingly revelatory is a new top floor members bar/restaurant area created by restoring/raising/re-integrating two enormous 1883 Victorian rooflights plasterwork/structure blocked & hidden 40 years and considered lost. It is raised 3m and enclosed with new innovative high-performance ‘smart’ liquid-crystal glazing (its first UK use) giving spectacular views over St James’s Churchyard. Energy efficiencies throughout of ±73% equate to saving 292 tonnes of carbon/year. The Learning/New Talent bar-screen is an organic 3D-printed fabric-like form maximising surface area, using a new material (another first UK use) that removes carbon/nitrous oxides from the air, equivalent to a young tree. The scheme includes: 227‐seat Princess Anne cinema/theatre (designed with Dolby ensuring it’s the UK’s best), 41‐seat cinema/theatre, four kitchens/bars, multi‐purpose event/exhibition spaces, new boardroom re‐using historic materials found during construction (with bespoke table/chairs by Benedetti Architects), judging/meeting rooms, staff welfare/offices, and new terraces overlooking Piccadilly and St. James’s Church. In close collaboration with our client and consultants; partnering agreements with innovative firms like Dolby, Merck, Noumena, Christie etc; and an excellent contractor over 2.5yrs construction through COVID, the £25m construction completed on time and budget Sept.’21, for soft launch Nov.’21 and public opening Jan.’22.
British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) Headquarters
The design enhances BAFTA’s international identity as the centre of excellence for motion picture arts in Film, Games and Television; integrating innovative state-of-the-art technology and cost-in-use efficiency while sensitively balancing members’ needs with public access and revenue generation, ensuring the charity’s long-term social, environmental, financial sustainability. The comprehensive expansion of BAFTA’s Grade II listed headquarters occupied by the charity since 1974. Built in 1883 as the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour, a medium then overlooked by the neighbouring Royal Academy of Arts, 195 Piccadilly is BAFTA’s home. However, the building’s size, layout and old services severely limited its ability to deliver an ever-wider range of charitable activities. A new lease with The Crown Estate, taking the charity past its 100th anniversary, prompted BAFTA to review and invest in its premises, commissioning Benedetti Architects as architects & interior designers to expand and fully reconfigure the building. The 2,050m2 Listed building was tired, unfit-for-purpose, expensive to run and maintain. Our design creates 2465m2 state-of-the-art spaces with greater flexibility, balancing members’ needs with the charity’s education work and raising income. At the heart of the refurbishment is the Learning and New Talent floor, which is core to the charity’s mission, enabling them to support the inspiration and training of diverse young creatives in Film, Games and Television. The design significantly increases usable area and doubles capacity & WC’s, by reconfiguring the entire infrastructure, improving fire safety, energy performance, acoustics, thermal comfort and useability. The unifying interior design enhances BAFTA’s unique character and celebrates the building’s historic assets. Our inventive re-working of various combinations of spaces, volumes, views and sequential movement enables robust charitable/commercial adaptability and opportunities for theatrical ‘reveals’ and special events to secure the charity’s long-term social and financial sustainability. The most striking revelatory aspect of our design creates a new top floor that restores, raises, and re-integrates two enormous 1883 Victorian rooflight spaces and decorative plasterwork blocked-off and hidden for 40 years and considered lost. The historic plasterwork/structure is raised 3m and enclosed with innovative high-performance ‘smart’ glazing (its first UK use) to create a new generously proportioned top floor with spectacular views over St James’s Churchyard. Other aspects of the scheme include new and/or transformed/repurposed spaces such as: renewed 227‐seat Princess Anne cinema/theatre (in association with Dolby ensuring it’s the UK’s best), a new 41‐seat cinema/theatre, dedicated learning floor, 4 kitchens, multi‐purpose event/exhibition spaces, members’ bar/restaurant/club, a new skylit BAFTA boardroom re‐using historic materials found during construction and with bespoke furniture by Benedetti Architects, judging/meeting rooms, staff welfare/offices, and terraces overlooking Piccadilly and St. James’s Church. Thanks to our close collaboration with the client and consultants; partnering agreements with innovative firms like Dolby, Merck, Noumena etc; and a proactively engaged contractor over 2 years construction throughout the COVID pandemic, the £25 million construction successfully completed on time and on budget in September ready for a soft launch in November 2021 and public opening in January 2022.
Brixton Windmill Education & Community Centre
The new Education & Community Centre at Brixton Windmill, the last working windmill in London, was designed as a flexible building to support a range of community activities hosted by the Grade II*-listed landmark, to secure its use for future generations. Funds generated by a programme of events in the new centre allow Friends of Windmill Gardens (FoWG) charity to continue its work preserving the heritage of Brixton Windmill. The project was introduced to the practice in 2016 by local print designers Eley Kishimoto, the windmill’s cultural ambassadors in its bi-centenary year who created its iconic ‘Flash’ sailcloth. FoWG and Lambeth Council reached out to us to unlock the 10-year-stalled project by creating a design that acted as a catalyst to release funding from Lambeth Council. Submitted for planning in 2016, the building was completed in 2020. The building is designed to serve a variety of users – school groups, adult education initiatives, community groups and local residents – and act as a platform for FoWG to showcase the historic mill and host open days and festivals. Conceived as a simple, beautiful timber framed space, the main hall and café can be hired for events to create revenue for FoWG. The building also supports the expansion of the social enterprise of milling flour for local bakeries, restaurants and retailers, with a plan to run baking workshops in the centre. Designs respond to the original miller’s outbuildings with a contemporary pitched roof structure and dark weatherboard cladding. Bookend gable walls in a soot-washed engineered brick reference the black painted windmill tower. A series of bi-fold doors allow the centre to be incrementally opened up onto a terrace overlooking the windmill and gardens. Sliding slatted panels allow light in and provide security when the building is unoccupied. Internally, skylights flood the space with natural light, and bespoke plywood joinery defines the café serving area and pop-up shop with built-in display areas. Low level units are designed for flexible use – as tables, storage or museum/shop displays. Jean Kerrigan, Chair of Friends of Windmill Gardens: “Brixton Windmill has been at the heart of Lambeth for over 200 years. The opening of the education building is a momentous occasion for us and will allow FoWG to continue serving the local community by providing vital space for workshops, classes and our flour production. I would like to thank architects, Squire and Partners, for their design, commitment and generous support for this project and Lambeth Council for recognising the role FoWG has played within our local community for the past 17 years and having the confidence in our volunteers’ ability to manage this wonderful new community space.” Cllr Sonia Winifred, Lambeth’s Cabinet member for Equalities and Culture: “I’m delighted that we have completed this project. The Windmill is such a valuable community asset and landmark for the borough. This new education centre will help people learn about the Windmill’s fascinating past and present, encourage more people to visit the site and create an important legacy for future generations.”.
Buy1Get1
Simplicity: The novel coronavirus emphasized the requirement for a change in people`s living environment -in terms of its multidimensional functionality and definition as an extension to the accommodation. The main problems which this pandemic leads us to rethink about are: - Social inequality in terms of access to the `garden` especially in high-dense urban areas, - The importance of Self-sufficiency at home or no jobs or businesses are secured, - The link between humankind and the animals, - Digitization in delivery of goods and supply chain, - Irreversible transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon infrastructure. The Simplicity has been designed as aiming to provide a response to the dense& high-rise living environments where people lack of access to nature and where people have limited (or no) initiative to shape their homes. This technology-driven modular home proposal will allow its future residents to shape their dwellings with the help of a smart software& app. which provides a seamless journey throughout carefully crafted steps by AI. People will be starting their self-design journey by selecting an appropriate site based on their provision and will end up with furniture selection after deciding on which modules (or ready-to-go units) they need. They would be able to create a self- sufficient tiny house with 15m2 footprint or a larger dwelling up to 145m2 footprint by using 3,9m. x 3,9m. modules in accordance with their requirements. Future-proof features of the proposal are: • Socially equal and affordable design options as separate or co-living communities, • All-in-one and self-sufficient homes with greenhouses, • Flexible units which will allow future revisions easily, • Skylight with integrated drone delivery, • Hydroponic vertical farming which provides essential food for the residents, • Low carbon technologies such as solar panels and rainwater harvesting, • Off-site construction and digitization, • Pedestrianisation, extended cycle lanes and IoT (Internet of Things) integrated drone delivery infrastructure, • Providing a controlled social interaction by full-height glazing on the ground floor and internal & outdoor gardens. Originally, this concept has been developed for London but It is aimed to deliver these self-sufficient modular solutions to anywhere in the world where there is a housing shortage.
Cadence Court, King's Cross Central
Cadence Court is a mixed-use urban block containing 158 dwellings within the King’s Cross Central Masterplan. Kings Cross is emerging as one of the most joyful, animated and inclusive places in London that requires an equally joyful building. With its strategic position in the masterplan to the north of Lewis Cubitt Park, and at the apex of York Way and Canal Reach, Cadence Court is a landmark structure that will reinforce King’s Cross unique sense of place and celebrate its emerging and historic contexts. In response to its prominent siting, our concept’s central architectural and urban gesture is its arcaded base and top. The arches of Kings Cross & St Pancras stations are reinterpreted in a contemporary bézier curve form, so that the building appears to sit lightly upon its urban landscape. The scheme is conceived as a six-sided perimeter block with no back, arranged around an internal courtyard from which taller forms emerge, ranging from four to fifteen storeys. This ‘unfolding’ urban form intends to convey a sense of inclusiveness in all directions. Conceptualised as a linear block of varying heights that wrap around its site, the scheme has been tailored in its massing to respond to its Park frontage, creating a frame for adjacent public spaces such as the approach from York Way, Chiltern Square, and to the neighbouring buildings. Arches are carefully placed at key locations, in a kind of 3D picturesque sequence of moments. Like follies in a landscape garden, each has a unique role defined by its setting. These arches form a series of recognisable destinations when approached from afar, and when reached, they each become a frame for the next. The building slowly unfurls and reveals itself through this series of vignettes, first caught in glimpses and then experienced spatially and materially. At street level, the scheme’s double height arcade leads to a central courtyard where a reflecting pool mirrors its enveloping arches, staircases and hanging gardens. Alison Brooks Architects have collaborated with landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan to evoke not only the tectonic qualities of King’s Cross, but also the atmosphere of Roman cisterns and Venetian fondamenta. Around the reflecting pool, restaurants and bars will benefit from sun shading and the shelter of the arches. Internally, the form of the arches extrudes into the double-height interior ceilings of the reception, retail and office accommodation. The scheme’s two towers house the market sale and intermediate units by Pocket Living. Recessed balconies allow residents to enjoy views across London sheltered from wind and rain, animating the façades with shade and shadow.
Canopy by Hilton, London City + Florattica
Canopy by Hilton London City, the UK’s first Canopy by Hilton hotel. Set within the multi-million-pound Minories development, the 340-room hotel champions the local neighbourhood and celebrates London's East End. Aon Insurance used the 15-16 Minories office building as their Headquarter until 2002, when the building fell out of use. To avoid extensive demolition, ACME worked with our client 4C Hotel Group to modify and adapt the existing building for the demands of a contemporary hotel. A new wing was added. At ground floor level new public routes were created at grade and standalone double height entrance for the rooftop bar, Florattica. The original facade consisted of load-bearing concrete fins. The facade was stripped back, and insulation added to improve thermal performance. The new cladding celebrates the retained pinstripe fin appearance in folded three-dimensional metal to create a dynamic hotel identity unifying the old and new wings. Seven different fin shapes are used to compose a diagrid pattern across the elevations and the use of different colours of each fin side creates the impression of light and shade even on the north facade. Being a 4* hotel in a densely urban location, the hotel strikes a balance of raw and refined details - the decorative golden facade over cladding a concrete structure and antique brass details throughout the hotel alongside elaborate fabrics and velvets, offset against raw interior details; polished plasters, exposed existing concrete columns and exposed waffle ceilings. This embodies the unique juxtaposition of the hotel location - between the City of London, the financial and historic centre and the artistic and multicultural communities of east London. The interiors and furniture designed by ACME pay homage to local heritage of the East End as a place for cloisters and slaughter, weaving and art. Crafted guest rooms and dining spaces feature floral patterns and woven fabrics reminiscent of the techniques employed by the 17th century French Huguenots. In celebration of Whitechapel’s contemporary arts scene, bespoke artwork adorns the public spaces throughout the hotel. The hotel rooms evoke the forgotten layers of history that have created the context in which Canopy by Hilton sits through materials and patterns, while remaining true to the late modernist origins of the existing concrete frame, which remains exposed where possible. Situated on the 11th floor of Canopy by Hilton, Florattica rooftop bar has sweeping views of the City of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Whitechapel. The design is inspired by East London’s textile industry and the silk woven floral patterns. A bespoke floral ceiling installation is composed of preserved gypsophila, achillea and bloom broom, and collectively creates a 120m2 dried floral meadow. Retention of the existing building which is carefully reworked is a statement of intent for the future building stock. This project is a sustainable transformation through refurbishment, extension and creative re-use. A tired office building is given new life as a hotel and rooftop bar.
Catching Sun House
Catching Sun House is located in Walthamstow, North East London on a brownfield site between Victorian terraces. It was designed to be a long-term home for the practice's founder. The plot was bought at auction with an approved planning consent for two houses. The site cost was shared with close friends who have built on the other half. The brief was developed over years of thinking about how to live. Several years passed after the purchase before construction began allowing time to refine the design. The building is conceived as a series of boxes connected by glazed screens. This creates a series of spaces; some internal, some external which read as one. The articulated roof form gives ceiling height and clerestory windows allows sunlight to penetrate, especially in winter. The material palate is simple; a double skin of concrete blocks, polished concrete floor, anodised aluminium windows and coloured MDF joinery. The form of the house is generated from two key drivers; its context, and a specific brief. The particular arrangement of the surrounding terraced houses has informed the form. A gap between perpendicular neighbouring terraces to the east of the site allows sun to penetrate and flood the site in the mornings, particularly in the winter and a long expanse of neighbouring rear gardens rolls down towards a nearby park where the sun sets to the west. The gap allows a shaft of sunlight in the morning and the upper floor space has views out over the lush neighbouring gardens, sky and big sunsets. This was the starting point for the design. Pervious planning consents required the buildings to be no higher than the adjoining victorian garden boundary walls. Also the arrangement of the external spaces of the inherited design would have resulted in them being in the shade and the living spaces overheated. To maximise sunlight, sky views and improve wellbeing, a redesign was undertaken after purchase. By mirroring the height and position of a small existing two storey structure on the site, a new design was consented which achieved a first floor space and pitched roofs to the rest of the building. The occupier experience of the internal spaces was key to reduce anxiety and promote wellbeing. The light, high ceilings and relationship to lush planting are central to the design. A hatred of fossil fuels, dark, cold and drafty period houses and DIY weekends wrote the brief. After decades of DIY projects the house had to be low maintenance. There is an air source heat pump and underfloor heating. We see sustainability as more than a tick-box exercise so focused on a minimal use of materials; concrete floors, blockwork walls and timber. There is no paint, plasterboard or other finishes. Having witnessed nightmarish final account bills from Main Contractors, we decided instead to work with a series of specialist sub-contractors, fabricators and joiners building on relationships developed over the years. The house is bright and catches sunlight, it uses it's form and landscape to being joy.
Compton & Edrich Stands, Lord's Cricket Ground
The Compton & Edrich Stands at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, deliver two new distinctive architectural structures, significantly expanding capacity at the world-renowned sporting venue. The stands, designed with structural engineers Buro Happold, deliver greatly improved sightlines and spectator experience for cricket fans, as well as upgrading capacity, accessibility, and amenities at the country’s largest cricket venue. The new Compton and Edrich stands sit either side of the iconic Media Centre at the famous Nursery End of the Ground. They feature a canopy roof, integrated facilities, and an elevated walkway at the back of the stands to improve crowd flow. At 24m high, they are now the tallest stands at the venue, featuring three tiers to elevate the spectator perspective in line with Lord’s reputation as simultaneously the ‘village green’ and internationally recognised premier cricket sporting ground. They allow unrivalled views of the field of play and panoramic views beyond the ground across London. The stands offer an additional 2,500 seats, increasing the Ground’s overall capacity to 31,500. The majority of the 11,500 seats fitted have been re-used from the previous stands to mitigate waste, and all offer unrestricted views. The stands also have wheelchair accessible seats, facilities and lift access at all levels. Additionally, for the first time, they also house two restaurants, 12 additional food and drink outlets and washroom facilities. The new stands form an integral part of a masterplan to revitalise the ground and broaden cricket’s appeal to a wider base as the seats are available to the general public, not just MCC members. The canopy is made up of a combination of white-painted radiating steel ribs, a visible timber supporting shell on the underside and a white fabric skin. Its design provides a subtle contrast to the futuristic, aluminium J.P. Morgan Media Centre, while corresponding to the tent-like forms of the Mound Stand’s fabric roof, alluding to a sporting typology. The original white and grey seating is set in light grey concrete terracing, divided by glazed bands which mark out the premier seating and restaurants and the J.P. Morgan hospitality suites, echoing the Grand Stand and Mound Stand elevation. Both stands are designed to be open and spacious, with clear open stairs, access walkways and wayfinding, improving accessibility and crowd circulation. A bridge connects the two main hospitality lounges, linking the stands for the first time, while introducing impressive dual aspect views of the pitch and Nursery Ground. A permeable two-storey arcade opens up the stands’ outward facing elevations. Together the stands improve the east facing frontage of the Ground and present a new identity from the North and East Gate entrances which are the main arrival points for crowds on match days. Delivered during the difficult circumstances of the pandemic, the stands were finished in time to be used through the major international test matches of 2021 and have been well received by the club and spectators as vastly improving facilities for the general public at the global “Home of Cricket”.
Convene at 22 Bishopsgate
Convene, the US-founded premium meetings, events, and workspace company, has opened its first ever international location, Convene at 22 Bishopsgate. Working closely with Convene’s in-house design team, Woods Bagot led an interior design that reflects Convene’s focus on amenity, hospitality, and experience, providing its users with an elevated offer, like that of a 5-star hotel. Taking into consideration the uniqueness of London, the design was influenced by the ‘Modern Livery’. Like the Livery companies of the City of London, Convene provides a platform for the creators and the innovators alike. The finished design shows a mix of traditional architecture, the history of Bishopsgate and the modern cultural influence of local contemporary street artist Ben Eine, bringing together the old and new, the clean and decorative. Shared amenity spaces provide opportunities for chance collaboration, while the large auditorium and meeting suite creates opportunities for large or small functions and events. Convene 22BG provides users with an elevated offer, like that of a 5-star hotel. Woods Bagot and Convene assessed the space in terms of its value, beyond just having maximum desk-space. There’s consideration for amenity and engagement, reinforcing why people come into the City of London now – for connection and interaction. The design is reflective of its surroundings, especially the concept of the ‘Modern Livery’. Like the Livery companies of the CoL, this is a platform for innovators. The finished look mixes traditional architecture, Bishopsgate’s history, and modern cultural influences of local contemporary street artist Ben Eine – joining old and new, clean and decorative – much like the CoL itself. The interiors and materiality have been designed with playful sophistication, with a neutral architectural base palette, exposed ceilings & colour injection by way of loose furniture, rugs, drapery and rich timber and stone surfaces - adding warmth and comfort. Subtle period pattern and feature mouldings reinforce local history. Significant emphasis is on the arrival experience, establishing the heart of the customer experience. Flooded with natural daylight and external interest, Convene celebrates high exposed ceiling structure, combined with gallery-style track lighting and decorative feature pendants. All areas feature state-of-the-art technology, fully equipped with high-speed WiFi, as well as conferencing tools that enable hybrid meetings. All clients can access premium-production elements, such as set design, and state-of-the-art audio/video capabilities. Smooth and flexible ways of working are made more straightforward, something of key importance to businesses after the last two years. Convene 22BG is BREEAM “Excellent” rated and is in line with the base build standards of EPC ‘B’ for the building. Best practice was also carried out regarding material selection and lighting control systems, complying with BREEAM requirements.
CRYPTOPOLIS - Sky Garden City
Ethos The proposal considers 2 issues regarding air rights and rights to territory. These 2 are commercially and administratively interrelated, and provide a potential solution to continued urban growth and also embrace the impact of new technologies. The Proposal The proposal addresses the need for territory of certain socio-economic groups who are normally excluded from the benefits which generational wealth can deliver, by partnering with capital in the re-envisioning of the city and seeks to provide an insight into the place and impact that architecture can have in society. and the creation of equity. Site The potential use public space over the street and walk ways, and the reality of air rights in the city, is well established in the City of London, however it is seldom made manifest. But that scenario replicates well to North American models of planning and development. This site had been vacant and awaiting development since 1945 WW2 and is used as a car park whilst its embedded value hitherto had not been utilised. Structure and Materials: Waste plastic harvesting provides the structural reinforcement and external frame for an eco-concrete coral form construct. Modern construction methods make up half of the processes used along with digital printing and rapid prototyping construction methods. Economics of space production The proposal creates additional synthetic land mass at an aerial park level suitable for enhanced permaculture, leisure, and commercial possibilities, the net result is to provide 10 times its footprint in useable territory per 60 floors of construction, without compromising light penetration, given its valuable city location this provides a new economic model for development and the release of embedded values. Politics of space production Those disenfranchised from access to land would become key stakeholders if such constructs were considered as an element in the re interpretation of high density living, and shared capital. Sky Gardens and Aerial territory The gardens and permaculture environments provide opportunities of urban farming and leisure activities. The creation of aerial landscapes and the curation of surface design will herald new forms which maximise production thresholds and proximities giving rise to new hybrids. Transport Distribution and transportation modes continue to develop including drone and personal transportation vehicles, this proposal anticipates these new interfaces, with layered aerial territory creating safe transport routes more akin to the risk level of the elevated Highway rather than the as yet unconsidered consequence of a freefall encounter with groundscape. Energy sustainability As an energy generating structure the internal void of the towers contain wind turbines fuelled by and enhancing the vortices created within the void areas and the structural skin of the towers. Prototypical space use The hotel, the apartment, the office. The future hotel room provides the basis for the inhabitation of the building, virtual technology allows for immersive environments reducing the need for business journeys and making their short term use for leisure and connecting with friends and family more tangible, delivery by drones of food and goods allows partnerships to be created with the local community within and outside of the building.
Crystal Palace Park Cafe
The cafe design is part of a package of improvement and conservation works proposed for the wider park. The approved design is a 2 storey building that provides a park level cafe and terrace and an event space at first floor level. The new building is situated in the same location as the existing cafe but its orientation has been shifted to be perpendicular to the park’s central axis. By doing this the building becomes the centre point of a new universally accessible route between the central axis and the lakeside path. The cafe is clad externally in half round cedar shingles. These have been chosen to respond to the scaled skin of the dinosaur models, creating a connection between the cafe building and the models at the other end of the lake. Carefully chosen areas of glazing maximise views over the park from within the cafe at ground level and over the lake from within the events space at first floor. The new cafe business will support the ongoing conservation of the unique grade I listed dinosaur sculptures and geological illustrations.
Space Park Leicester
Space Park Leicester (SPL) is a world-leading space and earth observation facility housing a collaborative community of industry, academics and students working together to drive growth in the space sector, building upon the University of Leicester's heritage of space-science excellence. This project: • Will play a key part in the Climate Emergency and the UK’s participation in the space industry: in 2020, the space sector underpinned approximately 15% of the UK’s economic activity, forecast to grow significantly; SPL will support this, boosting regional economic performance, becoming a strategically important asset in the delivery of the UK’s industrial competitiveness. • Creates a local landmark, redeveloping a contaminated brownfield site in a flood risk zone out of use for twenty years • Has synergy with and builds on the success of a related successful attraction – the National Space Centre, a science museum and tourist attraction few minutes walk away, • Has been a pioneering development: the University committed to building Phase One not knowing if later phases would follow – this project completes Phases One and Two (separately funded), creating a sense of place which attracts companies and researchers to work at SPL, and which act as a regeneration pump-primer for later developments, which may be satellite testing and assembly facilities or similar space-related uses. • Was built on time and within budget despite many developments of the brief and refinements of user requirements while it was being built • Is the result of a successful collaboration the City and University of Leicester and many public sector partners before construction… • ...and during design and construction – the whole team working collaboratively to deliver the best result • Will benefit the surrounding community despite being of a very different scale – at planning application stage only one objection was received. • Has been extremely well-received by stakeholders, the media, industry partners and users. The building: • Acts as an attractive beacon for the site and communicates the mission of SPL, as something to do with people, space and the community • Is an innovative hybrid of industrial research facilities, teaching, meeting spaces and outreach • Is designed to be flexible and adaptable and therefore sustainable in the long term – the reinforced concrete frame is designed to allow future adaptation (library loadings 4kN/m2) to enable changed use of all or part; and future heavy specialist equipment. Zinc (life 100 years+) can be recycled, (windows 60 years). • Has structural capacity for upward extension (Technical Wing) • Has high levels of insulation, low air leakage (<3); design allows window changes / internal reconfiguration without affecting overall appearance • Is low energy, using materials which can be recycled. The site and landscape: • Was reduced during design, avoiding impact on local ecology and protected species (badgers) • Sits happily alongside Ellis Meadows with a very low profile despite being five storeys high • Transforms a dead-end into a welcoming place • Provides sustainable planting, encourages cycling and sustainable means of travel.
EDGE London Bridge
A civic building EDGE London Bridge, located next to London Bridge Station, will be the most sustainable office tower in London through its design and use of state-of-the-art technology. The new building, planned to be delivered in 2024, will have a vibrant and publicly accessible ground floor which in combination with a lush green garden will add to the ongoing transformation of this dynamic part of London’s South Bank. The character and activation of the building’s base marks a radical departure from that of a traditional London office building. The base of the building will be a multilevel, accessible, and inclusive public space where community facilities and flexible workspace animate the public realm, engaging with the surrounding neighbourhood. Fabric & Massing The building’s external form expresses its internal organisation which, alongside the exposed structural bracing, creates a legibility and hierarchy of scale which lends character and interest to local and distant views. Inspiration for the material palette which includes glazed terracotta façade panels has been drawn from the character of the surrounding area and the steel elements on the facade celebrate the heritage of the area and the presence of the railway station and viaducts. The building elevations display passive measures to minimise heat gain whilst maximising light into the building, responding to different environmental situations, through vertical shading, terraces, and openable façade elements. At the base of the building the side core opens a generous and connected public zone. Landscape extends into the ground floor to further activate the ground plane. Workspace & wellbeing The design of the building marries well-being and productivity with broader social and environmental sustainability goals. The office space has been designed to meet the needs of a range of businesses from small start-ups in flexible working environments to larger more established companies. Terraces on the north elevation of the building are designed to provide a green outlook from the adjacent office spaces whilst creating an external environment which can be used for informal meetings as well as a break-out space. Openable façade elements on each level offer the potential for natural ventilation whilst smart technologies within building elements such as the chilled ceiling panels with integrated lighting, sensors and other services help create a workplace that supports productivity and human comfort with minimal environmental impact. Designing for the future EDGE London Bridge will be London’s first multi-tenant building to achieve BREEAM outstanding and WELL platinum accreditations. Each design decision has been considered to minimise carbon in construction and operation. The frame is constructed with material-efficient post-tensioned concrete, reducing embodied carbon. Future adaptability will extend the useful life of the building with timber framing that can be customised to meet occupiers’ needs, further optimising embodied carbon and future flexibility. The building envelope has been designed to respond to the proposed surroundings and environmental conditions, enabling access to daylight whilst limiting unwanted heat loss in winter and reducing overheating in summer. The upper levels of the building are crowned with biodiverse green areas which use native species to promote varying moisture and root zone conditions and encourage bird foraging, nesting, and insect life.
Edge / Mitsui Fudosan
Edge Shoreditch is an office-led mixed-use development ranging in height from 5-20 storeys. Located in the London Borough of Hackney, the building offers the opportunity to set a new standard for offices in London and beyond, to achieve the highest sustainability levels, improve the health and wellbeing of the building users, and create and foster a new diverse and inclusive community. The stepped building will provide market-leading, flexible workspaces complemented by internal break spaces and generous roof terraces providing access to greenery and biodiversity, high levels of natural light and fresh air. These features will enhance the health, wellbeing and productivity of occupants and encourage interaction and connectivity throughout the building. The flexible floorplates and generous ceiling heights will cater for a range of tenants and ensure the schemes longevity and adaptability. Five key objectives have been identified for the project, which have served as touchstones for its design development: Distinctive Appearance The building will have a strong identity that distinctly reflects its local South Shoreditch context. This includes warehouse inspired façade grids, a refined material palette combining brick and reconstituted stone, and key details such as the corners, parapets, entrances, and frontages. Colours, textures, bonds and patterns within the unique façade design will subtly enhance the building’s appearance within the local heritage context. Creating Connections An internal street, located at the heart of the ground floor, provides access to the main reception and offers informal, flexible workspace breakout areas as well as internal links to the ground floor retail units and cycle facilities. This internal street is seen as a vibrant social and amenity-focused space that also provides a pedestrian route across the site. The street also plays a key role in integrating the affordable workspace, which is considered an essential part of the building’s office ecosystem, into the building. Terrace Amenity All occupants within the building will have access to external private and communal amenity spaces, that also provide the opportunity for a significant uplift in planting and biodiversity across the site. Interlocking terraces are introduced as the building rises in height from west to east that provide an external space to every level bordered by soft landscaping to enhance occupants’ access to nature within the city. Sustainable Ambitions The project has the highest ambitions for sustainable design, health and wellbeing. The building will target BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Platinum and NABERS ratings as well as significantly reduce embodied and operational carbon through the refinement of key building components including optimisation of the facades, superstructure and substructure; low water usage and harvesting; and all-electric and highly efficient building services. Flexible Workspace The office floorplans will be subdivisible, reconfigurable and, in combination with the generous ceiling heights, will cater for a range of tenants demands and ensure longevity of the proposed scheme. They will also be complemented by internal and external breakout spaces, high levels of natural light and fresh air, and communal amenity spaces.
Edith Summerskill House
The design proposes to make social housing civic and to do this with a grounded high-rise. The 21-storey tower elevates the experience of affordable housing. It replaces an existing smaller tower on the site, increasing the number of homes from 68 to 133. The plan comprises two overlapping squares. On the skyline this gives the impression that there are two towers, one in front of the other. This improves the proportions of the facades, and the apparent slenderness of the tower. Inside, the additional corners mean 75% of the flats – and living spaces - are dual aspect. A standard repeating floorplate accommodates the mix of flats, simplifying the design and construction of the building. Each flat is planned around a dual aspect corner living space. The façades use two ordering systems. The first, of a domestic scale, consists of 684 portrait windows and Juliet balconies evenly distributed around the building’s perimeter. In front of this, a second structural order of pilasters and arches addresses the scale of the city. Knowing that the building will be seen from near and far, arches occur at 2-storey intervals on the lower floors and every third storey above. The arches re-scale the building. Chiaroscuro is the process of accentuating three-dimensional form through the gradation of light and shade. The design employs this phenomenon to increase the apparent depth of the façade through the varying textures of its precast concrete elements. Smooth projecting concrete arches on the face of the building cast shadows on the sinusoidal profile of the inner leaf, intensifying the distinction between foreground and background. The sinusoidal profile is a playful reference to the folds of open curtains. The superstructure and facades of the building will be constructed entirely from precast concrete components. The facades are formed from modular precast concrete sandwich panels with windows pre-installed in the factory, providing both the external finish and perimeter structure, eliminating the structural frame. An arcade at street level establishes a north-south route between the Nineteenth Century streets and Welfare State housing. The base of the building is conceived as a rusticated brick base, distinct from the precast concrete façades above, providing a tactile quality at street level. Its elevations are animated with large arches and various other openings that respond to the needs and character of the various ground floor spaces which include a communal lounge for residents. It is unusual to develop single tenure affordable housing in a high-rise. Mindful of this, we sought to play down the functional, and to play up the civic and communal dimensions in the design of the facades, the arcade, the lounge and common hallways throughout the building.
Energy Dynamics
In April 2021, Ukrainian energy company, DTEK, invited Jason Bruges Studio to create a data-driven art installation for its new London office – a hub for Ukrainian investment and dialogue. The vision was a digital frieze celebrating DTEK’s mission to provide light and warmth to millions as well as its wider mission to drive Ukraine’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Just as with the laws of thermodynamics that govern the transfer of energy from one place to another, or from one form to another, so Energy Dynamics shows the transfer of energy from source to city, and from a ray of light, gust of wind or lump of coal to the power that drives a nation. It also acts as a memorial for hundreds of staff who have lost their lives since the start of the full-scale invasion. Energy Dynamics consists of 593 luminous arcs mounted on a 12-meter-wide canvas, hung above DTEK’s offices in the Leadenhall Building, London. Each arc represents a Ukrainian city, power station, renewable installation or weather pattern that is then brought to life through live data links that send energy pulsing across the board – a stylised map of Ukraine – as undulating waves of light. The effect is a real-time ‘power map’ that also mimics the behaviour of atoms – the simplest form of energy. Tragically, war has given this artwork new meaning and poignancy. From a piece originally commissioned to show Ukraine’s decarbonisation, the full-scale invasion in February 2022 turned Energy Dynamics into a symbol of endurance and a visual statement of DTEK’s mission to quite literally keep the lights on. Power stations in occupied territory appear static today, but they remain ready… waiting for Ukraine’s victory to light up once again.
Fucina Restaurant
Amidst the typical London environment, Fucina is a haven for refuge from the buzz of the city. Using the space to produce a faithful portrait of the Italian taste, AMA resolved the design with a contemporary representation of all the elements that compose the rich Italian culture. The challenge was to create an environment that reflected the statement: ‘Organic produce, sustainably sourced and prepared honestly using Italian artisanal techniques’ It was our responsibility not only to create the environment but also to name and brand the restaurant. Our response was to produce a faithful portrait of Italian taste, with a contemporary representation of elements that reflect the rich Italian culture. The unique handmade ‘antico mattoni’ ceiling, formed and warped like an inverted Italian 18th Century vaulted brick soffit, creates a visually dynamic atmosphere in the raw and inspiring restaurant. The view of the street is obscured by a floor to ceiling steel framed screen with handmade coloured glass infill panels, producing an ecclesiastical environment with its wax candle wall lights. The floors are hand laid marble chips set into traditional ‘terrazzo cemento’ borders, reminiscent of Carlo Scarpa’s Olivetti building. Hand ‘decaped’ timber floors flow centrally throughout the restaurant. Within the formality of the box the floors and soffit are softened with flowing lines, reinforcing the organic nature of the restaurant offer. Materials too reinforce this, with handmade bricks, forestwood marble and burnt steel panelling details. Even the smaller scale elements such as the furniture are riddled with knots in the timber frames and large tabletops rest on shaped tree branches.
Fulham FC Riverside Stand Redevelopment
The redevelopment of the Riverside Stand for Fulham FC will create a vibrant new destination within this part of West London, providing new facilities for the local and wider London community and drawing an influx of visitors to the area. The main challenge for the project was to create a significant destination building of contemporary architectural quality on this extremely tight site, flanked by the pitch on one side and the River Thames on the other. Additionally, the design would also need to contribute to and enhance the historic nature of the ground, as London’s oldest football club. An elegant, timber-clad roof structure is supported by steel trusses to create the striking visual effect of the roof floating in the air, high above the seating tier. The roof form echoes the gentle curve of the river, while the building's gleaming façade of glass bathes the interiors in natural light, providing stunning views from every level. Populous’ multi-use scheme considers the requirements of all stakeholders to create a riverside development befitting of its prominent location on the Thames. In addition to increasing the seating capacity at the stadium, the scheme incorporates restaurants overlooking the river, events spaces, a health club complete with roof-top pool, serviced apartments and a roof terrace. It will, of course, address the Club’s operational and sporting requirements during the football season, but importantly also provide a community hub that will add to the vibrancy of the area on non-match days. In addition to the creation of these new facilities, a major benefit of the project is the creation of a new public riverside walkway, which will allow the Thames Path to be fully continuous in this part of the capital for the first time.
Future Vision for London Waterloo Station and South Bank – Waterloo Station Masterplan
Lambeth Council and Network Rail have collaborated to develop an ambitious long-term plan for the development of London Waterloo station and the surrounding Waterloo and South Bank area. Developed through an extensive engagement process, the project was informed by quantitative socioeconomic evidence that yielded authentic, responsive, and evidence-based masterplan outcomes. Social value considerations went beyond procurement requirements and instead underpinned the process and technical content of the masterplan. A social and economic analysis of the area, as well as social value workshops and design audits focused masterplan options and framed a long-term social value strategy for the area. The team also estimated economic impact of emerging masterplan options, aligning built assets with key growth sectors of the LBL economy, creating a platform for these areas of economic inclusion to thrive. An Equalities Impact Assessment of anticipated masterplan outcomes also considered how the masterplan addresses the needs of particularly vulnerable communities. The masterplan sets out a series of long-term aspirations to deliver improvements to both the station and the wider area that will further improve the wider neighbourhood and make it easier and safer for people to move around, promote active travel and support the local economy. The masterplan outlines suggested improvements and upgrades including: → Better connections: 40+ enhanced walking and cycling routes, and 15+ improved gateways to the station and the City, helping encourage more active forms of travel and onward travel from the station. → Redesigned northern concourse: A remodelled entrance at the northern end of the station to better interact with the public realm and surrounding areas immediately outside the station. → New, southern station concourse: A new concourse in the south of the station to help improve passenger flow in, out and through the station, make the station even easier to navigate and reduce congestion on the existing concourse. → Enhanced public spaces: New and improved multi-generational, inclusive, and safe public spaces. → More green infrastructure: 1,900m2 of new green space around the station with proposals for hundreds of new trees. → Creation of new workspace and employment opportunities Network Rail and Lambeth Council, in partnership with South Bank Employers Group, South Bank BID, We Are Waterloo, LCR Property and local developers HB Reavis, Bourne Capital and SB Royal Holdings commissioned Grimshaw to develop the masterplan as a framework to help realise Waterloo’s full potential as a connected, safe, and thriving net-zero neighbourhood with an integrated world-class station at its heart. London Waterloo station is the third busiest transport hub in the country with 57.8m entries and exits last year, is a major gateway into the City and to the Waterloo and South Bank area and encompasses iconic cultural institutions including the National Theatre, Old Vic and London Eye. Lambeth Council, Network Rail and partners will bring forward a programme of short-term investment to begin delivering the vision of the masterplan and there will be further engagement with residents, businesses, and stakeholders to refine and develop detailed proposals.
Hard Rock Hotel
The new Hard Rock Hotel London opened on 30th April 2019, which saw the Cumberland Hotel transformed into the Hard Rock Hotel London. Boasting two vibrant bars and the iconic Hard Rock Cafe®, the property will serve as a London landmark as well as a permanent home to celebrate the heritage of the music legends that have stayed at the iconic Marble Arch location, including Bob Dylan, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix and Diana Ross. The team spent two years developing the designs using the brand’s musical heritage as a starting point. It was great to work with two established, high-profile brands - Hard Rock International and glh Hotels to create this landmark destination in the heart of London. The hotel comprises of several Hard Rock moments including a feature drumstick installation above the reception, the striking central Lounge Bar and the mirrored ceiling in the Rock Royalty Lounge. Other cues were taken from forms such as the record player master disc and the guitar fretboard to add subtle touches to the interiors. The design had to be unique and represent the Hard Rock brand in a new way for the London market. To complement such a prestigious location, we chose materials that offered a luxurious high-end aesthetic and paired perfectly with a traditional British colour palette. Within the 370 seat café, we used a rich colour scheme of gold and heritage green that beautifully accompanied the panelled interior and large ornate memorabilia framing. Contrasting the traditional interior design of the café, other areas used modern contemporary styling such as the Lounge Bar and the Rock Royalty Lounge, all of which were carefully planned to ensure the acoustics were the best they could be to facilitate live music performances and create a fantastic atmosphere for guests. The central GMT bar is eye-catching and creates an incredible atmosphere. The lighting has been carefully designed to complement the hundreds of brass fins that span the ceiling and once the sun sets the bar comes to life with a series of lighting displays. “Hard Rock is a world-class institution, where contemporary style and comfort meets rock star service. This building has stood at the intersection of British music and fashion since the 1930s and when we open on 30th April 2019, it’s sure to become a go-to London hotspot once again.” [Ian Fletcher, General Manager of Hard Rock Hotel London] The project has been fundamental to the progression and growth of our hospitality team. Upon winning the job, from the outset we wanted to push our design and create something striking and unique in the London hotel scene. Working with an established brand like Hard Rock was challenging and exhilarating. They entrusted us with their first UK hotel and allowed us to push the boundaries of their usual design aesthetic, creating a space that elevates their brand and, ultimately, making it a destination for Londoners and tourists. We are incredibly proud to have this project in our portfolio, and look forward to working with both brands again.
Innovation Studio
The building, as with the completed Drawing Studio, encourages innovation and creativity that is especially useful to the creative industries. Such initiatives have become hallmarks of the Arts University, which has particular links into the film industry and the performing arts as well as architecture, graphic design, etc. The Innovation Studio acts as a catalyst for growth, providing a base for micro and small businesses to develop, mainly involving recent graduates, supported by experts in the universities and businesses at a local, national and international level. The detail of the architecture makes particular reference to the self-identification of the groups within : deliberately offering each group a differently shaped window from the next and a series of ‘eyelid’ shutters with which a group can signal its mood of privacy or exposure. The site consists of a small infill between the administration University House block and the main Workshop block. With direct connection through to the workshop, the building deliberately breaks down the categories of ‘office’, ‘studio’ and ‘workshop’- and is thus an appropriate hybrid for future practice. The building establishes its own particular personality amongst AUB’s family of buildings. It is a sunny, seaside building and a punctuation to the otherwise monochromatic blocks either side. The view from the street and from the Campus side has a visual impact by way of its figuration through the use of flat shape and colour - effectively creating a ‘mural’. This transfers down onto the pathways around : giving a celebratory feel to that corner of the campus. The two-floor interior features a top-lit central skylight lantern with a void under that visually links the upper and lower levels. A near-replica of Gunnar Asplund’s iconic clock in the Gothenburg Law Courts (still remembered as an inspiration to the 17 year old Peter Cook as a student at the Bournemouth Art College) is the common focus. Bespoke Interlocking furniture, screens and fittings continue the red/orange/yellow aesthetic of the exterior. On the ground floor, we have the technology experimental space with direct access to the workshop machinery. The 3D print suite is placed in the ‘nose’ of the building. The conference room is kept to the east with direct connection to the entrance.
Magna Square
Egham Gateway is a new mixed use development in the Runnymede borough of Surrey. Four mixed use buildings combine new retail, leisure, residential and student accommodation, around a pedestrianised public realm, creating a gateway from Egham Station to the town centre. Buildings A and C define the new high street, and have been designed in tandem creating a unified commercial high street. The mixed use blocks are lined with retail units at ground level with access to a new Everyman Cinema and residential units above. Building B responds to the curve of the site created by the Church Road by-pass, and has been designed with no obvious back or front to ensure an active frontage to each elevation. Building D provides 100 single student rooms each with study area, storage space, a small kitchenette and an en-suite bathroom. The development utilises a design language that closely references the local vernacular. A highly articulated and varied roofscape, with mansards and dormer windows, has been incorporated to reflect the character of the Conservation Area. Chamfered corners facilitate pedestrian movement across the site and respond to the local context, these corners will also incorporate special features such as entrances or bespoke windows. A variety of brick colours, patterns and bonds are used throughout the development in response to the wide variety visible in the local context. Brick quoining and diapering details are also used in key locations to and visual interest in the facades.
Montacute Yards
In an innovative collaboration, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and Ben Adams Architects have created a tailored workspace with an over-arching sense of community and belonging that informs this design for Brockton Capital and Fora. The project is emblematic of urban re-connection, turning a tight, disused brownfield site into a new place for Shoreditch. Central to this is the creation of a series of connected, characterful public spaces providing places for locals and workers alike to discover and enjoy. New passageways connect the site – one a historic path that is reinstated, the other extending and activating a neglected dead-end street – and a new market underneath the East London Line viaduct, form the vibrant heart of the development. The building celebrates the industrial heritage of the area through the creation of a new type of warehouse for Shoreditch. Generous volumes and clearly expressed materiality – from its steel exoskeleton to the finishes within – combine to create unashamedly urban but highly flexible office spaces. The design places an emphasis on outdoor amenity through the creation of roof terraces of different sizes, aspect and character set within the Shoreditch rooftops. Further ancillary buildings, one a Grade II listed Georgian townhouse, the other a two-storey CLT warehouse, provide variety of scale and character. BAA’s interiors have been designed to contrast, yet compliment, AHMM’s contemporary steel and glass envelope, and feature luxuriant planting, bold textiles and warm lighting in a variety of spaces and settings. Playful references to the AHMM industrial aesthetic, include a mesh curtain at ground floor, industrial lighting, exposed steel beams and perforated metal finishes. The vibrancy of Shoreditch High Street is juxtaposed with a calm and welcoming new courtyard leading to the reception space, at the heart of the ground floor. The lower ground floor includes meeting rooms, kitchens, banquette seating and spill-out spaces, as well as bike parking, showers and a gym. Upper levels have been designed as workspaces which benefit from the large format glazing providing uninterrupted views of the city. The colour palette, fabrics and furniture were carefully chosen to add variety, texture and an intentionally domestic aesthetic. The interior treatment further explores a theme of connectivity within the building, punching holes through the slab, to join floors together and create additional fluidity. Wellbeing and sustainability are a strong focus of the fit-out. Natural finishes are used throughout to give a warm and tactile feel. Flooring is timber and concrete (with visible stone aggregate, reminiscent of a beach), surfaces of fixed furniture have been selected to be warm to the touch, and the entrance sequence features a green wall. The organisational layout of the building prioritised proximity to windows and outdoor space, with holes punched between floors to bring daylight to lower levels. A circadian lighting strategy adjusts throughout the day and LED strips uplight offices to create a softly glowing ‘sky’ contributing to a sense of calm.
Newson's Yard
This existing builder’s yard on Pimlico Road in central London is to be renovated and rebuilt as a world class mixed-use retail space, a place intended for collaboration, events and pop-up exhibitions with a public route through the site. The key feature of the design of Newson’s Yard is the dramatic double height space at the centre of the existing yard providing daylight and sunlight in the public areas and retail units on ground and mezzanine levels. The yard will be accessed via two gently sloping arcades enabling full accessibility for the public. The scheme retains the original character of the existing buildings along Pimlico Road with quality retail on ground floor and residential units on upper floors. The number and size of retail units on the site reflect Grosvenor’s latest retail strategy which aims to increase the diversity and range of independent shops on Pimlico Road. There will be seven units: the larger two with primary frontage/access off Pimlico Road, and five smaller units accessed from within the yard. It is envisaged that the new retail yard space could be utilised for art installations and temporary exhibitions throughout the year. Grosvenor has Sustainability Commitments with goals to becoming zero carbon and zero waste, promoting higher environmental and ethical standards in all projects. - This scheme retains and repurposes as much of the existing fabric as possible - CLT slabs are used for all the yard mezzanine retail units reducing steelwork on site. - Cemfree concrete is used as an ultra low-carbon alternative to concrete - Green roofs and bird bricks are incorporated into the residential envelope improving biodiversity on site. - PV panels are used on the southern roof pitches on Pimlico Road providing sustainable power to the resident's flats.
Old Street Station Entrance
A new entrance at Old Street was an opportunity to bring light, biodiversity and motifs of forestry into this bustling London hub. We were brought in to design a new concept for the entrance on the peninsular, reworking an inherited design that needed a new approach. Working within the confines of the original positioning, we opened out the space with a glass façade, maximising potential sightlines and creating a space for quiet reflection alongside the listed buildings in the area. Our station entrance forms the endpoint of Tonkin Liu’s ‘Promenade of Light’ with 18 new trees lining a walkway in front of the shops by Old Street Station. To complement this, our station entrance incorporates a central sculptural tree – a subtle blend between the practical construction needed to support the structure and an artistic celebration of nature. The sculptural tree structure was fabricated offsite. The grouting method used was the first of its kind, resulting in a design that has minimal, almost invisible fixings, mimicking the skeleton of a natural tree that ‘grows’ into the biodiverse green roof. To achieve this effect, we used rigorous modelling to guide our design. We involved contractors early in the process to ensure the structure could be prefabricated offsite and keep the design streamlined; by refining the engineering and architecture with the contractor team, we ensured the material involved was as minimal as possible and minimised waste. The biodiverse roof that sits upon our sculptural tree breathes life into the rail infrastructure of London that is often associated with machinery or metal. Transport for London’s Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity plan is built around London’s remarkable variety of plant and animal species; this miniature meadow on the station roof provides food and shelter for insects and small animals. The roof drains rainwater into a Sustainable Urban Drainage system (SuD), an initiative with countless benefits for biodiversity. The roof was a finalist in the UK Roofing Awards 2024. The ceiling of the new entrance has the iconic London Underground ‘Roundel’ imprinted, commemorating its iconic identity. Our priority was to reduce the amount of concrete needed within the design; the final structure uses 85% less concrete that was originally required in the inherited design. Our public realm work incorporated a unique paving that draws in pollution from the air and allows it to be washed harmlessly away. In recognition of these elements, along with the SuD system, the project received TfL’s top award for an Outstanding Environmental Initiative in 2024 and was awarded ‘Excellent’ by BREAAM. The start and end point in our design adheres to our three core values: being people-focused, creating a space that is not only functional for passengers, but also provides tranquillity in the approach to the station; being inventive, with specialised craft and construction employed in the concrete sculpture; and being responsible, with environmental and social benefits. The context of the project presented us with specific constraints, which we turned into opportunities to create a striking design.
Panagram
A 1980s office building has been brought back to life by Buckley Gray Yeoman with playful interventions that bring colour and joy to the interior spaces and a new vibrant reception space at its heart. A retro pop aesthetic has replaced the corporate look and feel of the building as physical and metaphorical barriers are broken down to bring about a more convivial and lively set of workspaces in Clerkenwell. Already clad in pink granite, we decided to keep some of the original features of the existing building and use them to inspire a new identity for Panagram. A similar hue of terrazzo is used to wrap around a new entrance to the building, which creates an entirely glazed ground-floor level and reveals the activity within. This extra-wide portal provides a unified appearance along the street and a much more inviting experience. Once inside, an unusual free-flowing 1,560 sqft reception is noticeable by its lack of traditional desk and a series of unique seating elements, including a white-tiled plinth with koi carp swimming through its centre, and a sculptural leather bench wrapping a Ficus tree. Visitors are greeted by a host who will emerge from behind a one-way-view curtain, promoting a relaxed and informal atmosphere. A single yellow steel girder is positioned in the middle of the room to reveal the structure of the building and transform it into a striking decorative element. Visible through the glazed wall in reception, a dramatic grand timber staircase leads from the ground floor office space down to the garden level floor. The stair incorporates a larger Ficus tree growing from its centre and a series of extra-large steps that can be used either as a place to sit and relax or as an auditorium. The aim was to create a series of multi-use spaces that the occupants could adapt to their needs. Colourful lifts continue the sense of playfulness as they transport people up through the building, while loos are given their own bright identities; huge sliding doors that turn the WCs into a feature on each level. Colour Is prevalent throughout with the fresh air ductwork painted Parisian pink and Duck Egg Blue on alternate office floors. The entire remodelled 52,000 sqft building is flooded with natural light thanks to generous floor-to-ceiling heights that range from 3.3m to 3.8m. The planted terraces offer views out to the City of London and beyond, reminding the occupants that they are situated in the heart of the thriving capital. On the second floor, we created a fully fitted-out office that further demonstrates how colour and materials can be used to suggest zones of activity, such as a green kitchen sitting within the open-plan setting and a breakout meeting room that is delicately enclosed by a yellow translucent curtain. Small meeting rooms are lined with felt to improve acoustics and create an intimate atmosphere inside.
Perkins+Will London Office
The design strategy was developed with full transparency and regular engagement with Perkins+Will employees at all levels. This included regular town hall meetings, lunchtime drop-in sessions and specialised workshops to gather likes and dislikes and priorities for the new space. This created a brief led by Perkins+Will staff that dictated the need for a space that increases collaboration, enables choice, optimises sustainability, and promotes health and wellbeing. The project team chose the White Chapel building for its excellent transportation connections, large column-free floorplates, generous floor to ceiling heights, and modern hospitality-based client hosting facilities. The move relocates around 170 staff members to Aldgate from the firm’s former location in Old Street. The move to the 26,000 sq ft space, owned by Derwent London, took place in March 2017. Designed by Perkins+Will, the new studio is tailored exactly to the needs of its employees. This is evident throughout, with each and every feature enabling users to work freely and more effectively. The result is a light, spacious and open office that enhances productivity, creativity, collaboration and wellbeing. Dedicated areas for working, collaboration, client hosting and meeting are configured around a central atrium and cafeteria, encouraging intuitive movement in a natural, dynamic environment that fosters creativity and teambuilding. The new reception area is one the key features of the space, providing staff and clients with a warm and welcoming sense of arrival. Featuring a 16-metre long reception desk which serves as a model display unit, the space is the result of an internal design competition that invited submissions from Perkins+Will employees. The winning entry was decided by a specialist panel who invited the winner to collaborate with the Project Team to develop the final design. The model shop has a prominent presence in the reception area and thus creates an immediate welcome into our creative environment. In working areas, the number of shared spaces and integrated technologies have been increased to offer a greater variety of workspace types including active, quiet, private, collaborative and social. Agile desking empowers staff with more choice over how and where they work. With no assigned workstations, there is a free and varied selection of settings. Workspaces respond to the unique needs of different activities or stages in the project, and all desks have universal laptop connections to encourage fluid team allocation and user choice. Critical to this setup is a high-speed Wi-Fi connection which is provided across the office and throughout the building. All employees are assigned a key-secured private locker that provides secure storage for personal items. Dedicated storage space is now provided for project work, and a clear desk policy introduced to keep personal desks and workstations tidy and clutter free. Large-scale projections have been introduced to allow designers to showcase their work, supported by wireless collaboration tools and a multitude of spaces for pin-ups and brainstorming sessions. A Virtual Reality Cave is equipped with the latest VR technologies to enable designers and clients to ‘walk through’ the designed spaces at any time in the design process. With fully agile, reconfigurable spaces and over 4,500 sq ft set aside for subletting or expansion, the space is futureproofed and ready to expand as the practice grows. Pre and post workplace effectiveness surveys were conducted to ensure end-user satisfaction was maximised. This included a confidential, standardised workplace effectiveness survey known as the Leesman Index to measure how well the new space satisfies its users. The survey gathers data based on functionality and effectiveness from corporate workplaces around the world. Launched in 2010, it is the largest independent collection of workplace effectiveness globally, with data from over 2,300 workplaces across 67 countries. The data collected from this research confirms that employee satisfaction, performance and productivity have all risen, so much so that the new space now ranks in the top 10% of all workplaces surveyed. This is apparent on a day-to-day basis with staff feeling noticeably more energised and connected to their new space. To help staff feel at home in their new space and the surrounding area, Perkins+Will’s change management team developed a downloadable mobile app as an alternative to a traditional welcome pack. The app included details of local amenities such as restaurants, transport hubs and public parks to help employees adjust quickly to their new professional home. Located just outside Shoreditch on the edge of the City of London, the introduction of Perkins+Will adds to the new creative economy currently playing a pivotal role in the regeneration of Aldgate and Whitechapel. The nearby Aldgate campus of the London Metropolitan University is home to the Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design. Given the close connection of disciplines, Perkins+Will reached out to the university to see how the business could support and engage students. Undergraduates were invited into the studio, with workshops tailored to support their projects. While this relationship is still in its infancy, the hope is that it will grow with the school to support its students for years to come. The space is currently awaiting LEED V4 GOLD certification and is the second European project to receive Fitwel certification for its inclusion of evidence-based design and policy strategies that support the physical, mental and social health of its occupants. Healthy, nontoxic and sustainable materials were used throughout the fit-out, avoiding those on Perkins+Will’s Precautionary List. Perkins+Will developed the list, working with clients and manufacturers, to find alternatives that use the fewest possible toxic substances. It ensures precautionary principles are applied when selecting and specifying products and materials, helping minimise the negative effect these materials may have on the users of all projects we design. Further sustainability achievements include: • 98% of the construction waste was diverted from land fill. • Reused furniture: accounted for 54% of total project material cost. • FSC certified timbers used in new constructions • Take-back scheme: for close loop recycling contract on all carpet installed • Reused materials: 100% of raised access floor, retained 98% of existing external blinds, and retained 83% of existing ceilings including mechanical equipment in those areas.
Private House in Kensington
Private House in Kensington London, UK This private house in London is a Grade II listed building that was designed as a family home by EP Warren. The building is currently on Historic England’s ‘Buildings at Risk’ register. The proposals are informed by a thorough assessment of the historical development of the house and garden and its significance as a heritage asset in the Kensington Conservation Area. The principal aspiration has been to develop a design which is sensitively informed by the qualities of the Grade II listed house. This includes a new eastern stair extension to join all levels and a double basement with swimming pool under the garden access by a grand stair and sloping lift. A new, sunken terrace is proposed to complement the Arts & Crafts nature of the house and complete the landscaped garden. The proposals seek to integrate the new and historic accommodation in a manner which delivers a coherent, holistic and well resolved architectural composition. The approach has been informed by detailed research into the history and heritage significance of the listed building and its garden. The proposals also draw from the work of both EP Warren and Thomas Mawson, his landscape architect and collaborator. The proposed entrance pavilion is a single storey extension to the east of the main house which provides a new entrance hall and vertical circulation to the new basement. The Arts and Crafts garden is defined by its strong architectural quality and the considered interrelationship of the internal and external spaces. It is conceived as an extension of the living space, structured by walls, stairs, pavilions and pergolas which negotiate levels and define external ‘rooms’. Our proposals for the private garden draw on the architecture of the house, relating to the central range and wings of the garden elevation, and hence the division of internal rooms. A lowered terrace emphasises the central bay of the house and extends the existing cascade of steps towards the lower section of the garden. This lowered terrace provides light and access to the adjacent wings of basement accommodation, bringing the architectural composition together as a coherent whole. The lowest basement level is defined by a continues rhythm of exposed structural concrete columns which support a series of coffered cross vaults spanning the entire pool and spa area. The pool is dramatically top lit through 5 oculus portals which support a shallow layer of water dispersing natural light within the subterranean spaces.
Queen's Yard, Hackney Wick
The Queen’s Yard development site lies in a conservation area and within the 2012 London Olympic fringe area. The Hackney Wick Central Masterplan identifies Queen’s Yard as a key site within the approved masterplan. The Yard is the ‘beating heart’ of Hackney Wick and the central aim of the redevelopment is to shift the existing focus of the Yard from being employment focused to becoming a truly mixed-use neighbourhood centre - whilst retaining its working yard character, including for two retained breweries. The redevelopment will provide greatly needed new homes alongside an increase in employment space and a purpose-built new theatre and community facility, securing the long-term future of the Yard Theatre on site. The mixed-use scheme will create a new residential neighbourhood of 143 high-quality Build-to-Rent homes focussed around a highly animated public realm. Sensitively designed new buildings will be introduced around three key heritage assets which are to be retained within Queen’s Yard. The 85% dual aspect residential component forms part of the wider redevelopment of the Yard, which also features 4,500m² of employment space, including a new 1,500m² Yard Theatre and associated community facility. Employment uses will provide a mix of retail, café / restaurant and commercial / light industrial space at street level throughout, animating the public realm. Hard and soft landscaping improvements will greatly enhance amenity and sense of place; creating an inclusive, pedestrian and cycle friendly place focused around the Yard and waterside. The opening up and expansion of the canal edge will assist in broadening Queen’s Yard’s appeal as a destination and contribute to the local economy. The key focal point of the scheme is the open working Yard at its centre, creating a key destination within the area. Placemaking has been a central focus of the design thinking throughout but here in particular the historic, social, physical and cultural qualities of this unique place are intimately intertwined. The design of the yard is deliberately open and restrained; intended to act as a transformational and highly flexible ‘blank canvas’ to support dynamic and inclusive community events. Key existing anchor tenants - the Yard Theatre, Crate Brewery and Howling Hops Brewery - all enjoy a direct relationship with the Yard which will assist in generating energy here. They will also help in creating a ‘halo effect’ and attracting other dynamic businesses to the Yard. The development is designed to enhance the lives and experiences of all users - whether coming to live, work or play here - and to further enhance the vibrant character of Hackney Wick. It will create a lively and welcoming destination, firmly rooted in place, to serve the needs of local people. The vibrant mix of flexible uses will feed off one another and help to secure the long-term vitality of this key site within East London. “This promises to be a highly successful mixed-use development within Hackney Wick, with generous, flexible commercial space and high-quality residential accommodation. The scheme relates well to its context - including the retained heritage buildings and the yard, as well as its prominent location on White Post Lane. The Quality Review Panel offers its warm support for the Queen’s Yard development which promises to contribute much to the new Hackney Wick neighbourhood.” Peter Studdert, LLDC Quality Review Panel Chair.
Rethinking Oil Rigs - Offshore Data Centres
While the oil economy and its associated architecture gradually become a fragment of a polluting, outdated, carbon-centred era, Data and Data Centres are rising to prominence as the backbone of contemporary society. With fossil fuels and finite materials gradually becoming obsolete, oil rig structures used for extracting and processing these reserves will become defunct. As Architects we need to rethink these obsolete structures, giving them a new function in the fast-expanding circular economy. Telecom fibre cables running along the bottom of the North Sea with decommissioned oil rigs above, provide a favourable opportunity in repurposing them as future sites for connecting together Data Centre networks, fed by renewable and sustainable energy sources: wind powered plants, tidal waves and sea motion-based energy farms. The North Sea alone has over 500 platforms with plans for decommissioning by 2050 at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £51bn. Over 15% could be reused for Carbon Capture with a large pool available for repurposing, which aligns with government policy of maximising economic recovery of the North Sea by 2050. Worldwide, it is estimated that data centres consume approximately 10 percent of the global power supply and account for nearly 2 percent of the total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Design for future Data Centres should not only be efficient but also aim at integrating innovative technologies in countering this loss while complementing its operational processes. In this report, we explore how we can rethink oil rigs as sustainable, offshore data centres of the future.
Royal Academy of Music - Theatre and new Recital Hall
The Royal Academy of Music’s Theatre and new Recital Hall project has created two distinct performance spaces for Britain’s oldest conservatoire and new circulation improves connectivity within the Academy. The overall concept seamlessly integrates these two exceptional performance spaces within the historic context of the Academy site. The Theatre, designed for both opera and musical theatre, now forms the heart of the Academy, and was realised within the gutted shell of a 1970’s fan-shaped auditorium and stage. Above the Theatre, the 100-seat Recital Hall skilfully exploits the last major area into which the Academy could expand, providing 230m2 of additional space for student rehearsal, performance, public events and recording. The Recital Hall has a footprint as large as that of the main stage, providing an ideal rehearsal space. In May 2009, Ian Ritchie Architects were tasked with designing a Theatre for students and the public’s enjoyment of performances, while delivering the ambiance, aesthetics and the environmental credentials befitting the Academy’s status as one of the world’s premiere musical academies. Beyond the brief, Ian Ritchie Architects explored the potential of creating new rooftop spaces over the Theatre. An epiphany during a discussion between the Principal and Ian Ritchie led to the development of a new 100-seat Recital Hall and an additional recording facility. Inspired by the curved shapes of string instruments, the 309-seat cherry-lined Susie Sainsbury Theatre has been acoustically refined to deliver excellent sound qualities. Within the boundary walls, the Theatre incorporates 40% more seating than previously through the addition of a balcony, a larger orchestra pit, stage wing and fly tower. All seats offer excellent sightlines to the stage, while the larger orchestra pit expands repertoire choice from early to modern opera and musical theatre. The lighting deconstructs the traditional chandelier into an exploding theatre-wide galaxy of light through 600 fibre-optic crystals. Above the Susie Sainsbury Theatre, and acoustically isolated from it and all other buildings, the new 100-seat Angela Burgess Recital Hall is entirely lined in pale, lime-washed oak. An oculus floods the room with daylight and provides the space with a central focus. Accessed primarily from the Main Stair, dating from 1911, the new glazed lobby to the Recital Hall enhances the Academy’s circulation routes, creating a visual and physical link between the old and new buildings. The new light well reveals the previously concealed Grade II rear façade, in which bricked-up windows have been reopened, improving the ambience of many practice rooms. In addition to providing access to the Recital Hall, the introduction of a new glazed lift means that the Theatre is now fully accessible, connecting the new Theatre Lobby on the Ground Floor with both the Stalls and Balcony levels. The new lift also provides access to the Basement accommodation, including the newly refurbished Percussion Studios and Practice Rooms. These extraordinarily beautiful and acoustically amazing spaces can be accessed independently and, together with the existing David Josefowitz Recital Hall and Duke’s Hall, complete a suite of facilities for the Academy’s ambitious student body and world-class teaching staff and for public performances. Concepts In designing the new spaces, we took inspiration from string instruments: their curved shapes, their construction and tuning mechanisms, tension and tone, and the physical relationships between artist and instrument. For the Theatre, our ambition was to conceive a space both intimate and epic. Our intention for the Recital Hall was to deliver a tranquil and visually cool space. Externally the new additions were conceived as a unified form to respect the local built environment. They are clad in pre-patinated grey-blue copper, imperceptible from street level and blending with the sky when seen from adjacent properties and from within the Academy through the clear glass connection to the old building. Design Process The project was unusually complex due to the constrained site into which a new volume and the myriad functions of a modern opera and musical theatre were to be introduced. Close collaboration from the design team enabled successful integration of architectural and theatrical/musical requirements with structural, acoustic, safety, mechanical and electrical systems. Total acoustic isolation between Theatre and Recital Hall and adjoining spaces was an essential requirement. The project effectively became two separate projects linked by the new vertical circulation. The many sensitive acoustic adjacencies were established at the initial design stages and design detail was developed from these acoustic ‘directives’. The Recital Hall and roof-level plant rooms are structurally and acoustically isolated from each other and from the existing building structure. They float on their own concrete platform, which rests on rubber bearings separating it from the new Theatre and fly tower. Result “The spaces are stunningly beautiful, acoustically brilliant and inspiring. They will raise the bar and challenge the students and staff in every possible form of music to reach higher and search further.” Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Principal, Royal Academy of Music The completed spaces are a testament to the hard work of the professional design team, the contractor and their subcontractors, and the patience, will, determination and support of the Royal Academy of Music.
Royal Opera House 'Open up'
The Royal Opera House ‘Open Up’ Location London, UK Client Royal Opera House Size 3,862 sqm (GIA) Budget £50.7 million Completion September 2018 The Vision This reinvigoration of the Royal Opera House delivers new world-class performance and public facilities that enhance the experience for public, staff and performers alike. In doing so, this prestigious project delivers the Royal Opera House ‘Open Up’ mission to create a welcoming and inclusive cultural hub that attracts new audiences for ballet and opera while respecting its renowned heritage. The result is a revitalised venue that encourages increased public engagement through greater street presence and transparency. New world-class performance and public facilities enhance the experience for visitors, staff and performers alike, while extending the life of the building outside of performance hours. The Design The design represents a physical manifestation of cultural change at the Royal Opera House. The architects’ key move has been to extensively reconfigure the previously introverted ground floor by providing substantially more foyer space together with redesigned Bow Street and Covent Garden piazza entrances. Finely crafted from a limited palette of traditional materials including Crema Marfil marble and patinated brass, these foyers create an elegant, all-day setting for new public activities such as cafes, bars, retail, exhibitions and informal performances. In doing so, these new public spaces allow the Royal Opera House to reveal more of the magic that is usually confined to its stages. At the heart of the project is the new Linbury theatre. Lined in American black walnut, this auditorium delivers an exemplary, 400-seat second public performance space that also operates as an artistic laboratory for the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies. Other interventions provide further interaction with the Covent Garden streetscape. These include a new public terrace above the redesigned Bow Street entrance and a refurbished Amphitheatre Terrace that has been partially enclosed to form an all-year winter garden overlooking the piazza. Both are accessible without performance tickets. The Making In this logistically highly complex project, Stanton Williams worked closely with the Royal Opera House and construction manager Rise to ensure that the venue remained fully operational throughout the three-year construction programme. The project enabled the Opera House to remain operational throughout, allowing for 996 uninterrupted performances. Client endorsement The ‘Stanton Williams’ design has transformed our Covent Garden home. They have balanced bold spatial reconfiguration with beautifully refined design detail, creating a new suite of spaces for our public staff and performers alike, uniting 19th century grandeur with 21st century elegance. This complex project balances the desire to attract new audiences for ballet and opera with the need to respect the Royal Opera House’s heritage, listed status and unique central London Covent Garden location. Since re-opening its doors, the Royal Opera House has seen a 72% increase in visitors which represents a 1,200% increase on our target. The Royal Opera House is now more than ever a part of the vibrant and diverse fabric of London and the cultural life of the country, setting the agenda for what a performing arts institution should aspire to be in the 21st century. ‘ Alex Beard, Chief executive, Royal Opera House.
SEACOLE Pods - Relocatable Micro Environments
Inspiration Drawing inspiration from both natural world and cultural narratives the protective casings of and the sexualised forms of Victorian dresses with their billowing hooped skirts, the inflated structures mimic the safe and welcoming forms of the Mugsum buildings of Cameroon. The work of Mary Seacole inspired the project Mary Seacole was a self-financing Jamaican woman who dedicated her life to nursing the sick in war and peace notably during the Crimean war, she is remembered by a statue outside St Thomas Hospital opposite the Houses of Parliament in London. Sponsorship and commercial partnerships The structures are commercially sponsored carrying the logos advertising livery, and advertising of the sponsor on the exterior, this commercial partnership would enable the fast tracking of production from clothing to manufacture of these simple structures, making sue a of a vast network factory based. Structure The structures are constructed from synthetic fabric inflatable enclosures, kept rigid by electric fans, these in turn are battery powered from solar panel collectors, applied to the skin of the pods and on the roof section their own independent power supply. Material A range of synthetic fire retardant finish and waterproof fabrics can be used, the external surface can be leased for advertising to support the production and repair of the inflatable modules. The rigid material containing solar panel, battery and lighting uses ocean waste Services, Making use of modern caravan and mobile home tech modes of washing, sanitary and Wc facilities can be provided at a high level of sterility and containment. Set up and assembly These simple pod forms inflate easily and quickly, with their battery-operated fan system. they are re configurable to adapt to a range of site locations and can be linked to form more specialised facilities or be added to, to create large scale installations. Ethos The aim is to provide lightweight, easy to transport and erect, mobile environments where patients can be treated in sterile safe self-sustaining environments. The problem, during the pandemic the need for hospital beds created a crisis in the worlds health systems, as beds and ventilation support were commandeered for those falling ill, and the general population avoided hospitals in order to free ups space and access, leaving medical centres empty and underutilised. These systems were nearly brought to collapse because of the lack of flexible easily erected facilities. The prioritisation of healthcare professionals to hospital attendance meant that local surgeries sat idle as the focus was shifted to central provision, however had there been a flexible response may people could have been treated close to their homes and localities, making use of the existing medical care which was available to them locally. Sites The project utilises local sites such as car parks adjacent to health centres, school halls, town hall assembly spaces, and business parks. Transportation and distribution The comparative small size of the deflated units and their light weight would allow for easy transport by road, train and air, units can be dropped from aeroplanes to remote areas, Post crisis re purposing All the material used in the construction of the pods are recyclable.
Spotify London
Located within London’s iconic Adelphi Building, Spotify’s new London office provides an inspiring home supporting the diverse requirements of both technical and creative teams. The brief was to create an environment that would capture the vibrant energy of Spotify with a focus on originality, authenticity and wellbeing. The project places audio at the heart of a scheme designed to reflect the energy and vibrancy of this rapidly growing and dynamic community. Exceptional design was required to integrate Spotify’s extensive technical requirements sensitively into a structurally complex, occupied and listed historic building. Well beyond the technical requirements of a typical workplace, the building houses performance and content production facilities which required not only exceptional design & planning expertise but also clever & significant structural interventions. The layout has been arranged to provide an exciting layering of interconnected spaces, where movement is fluid and effortless. Experiential design was considered as you move through the building, each corner providing a fresh new experience with visual and sensory cues, enabling users to ‘feel the music’. Spotify's London office is distinctly unique in its design and provides a work and performance space unlike any other! Whether it's the grand yet welcoming lobby, the gallery-partnered artwork rotation, or the whimsical design touches that pay homage to tech and audio, the space embodies the company culture of innovation, collaboration, and playfulness that differentiates it.
Taoyuan Airport, Terminal 3
The design for Taoyuan Terminal 3 synthesises the practice’s previous major airport experience with the specific brief. It has brought together the flexibility of the single span, loose fit volume of Heathrow Terminal 5 with the warmth and human qualities of the flowing interior spaces of Barajas Terminal 4. The result is a unique, dynamic and fluid architecture that allows for easy adaption and future transformation of airport functions without compromising the passenger experience or the architectural integrity. The RSHP proposal is inherently simple in its concept. The design is inspired by Taiwan’s beautiful landscapes, the seas surrounding it, its rhythms of nature and life to create a series of unique interior places designed for their purpose and protected beneath an elegant hard shell roof. Within, a soft inner surface is malleable and dynamic to celebrate and form the ever changing spaces below. The nature of the interior floor spaces whether grand, intimate, uniform or dramatic and the extent of those spaces have been designed to give passengers spatial clarity and flexibility in all areas; large, small, busy or quiet, to reduce stress and improve wellbeing and comfort. This flexibility ensures the airport is always at its best and suitably presented as the principal gateway to and from Taiwan to the rest of the world. This terminal will be the first of a new generation, a highlight in the journey for new and seasoned travellers alike. It will offer arriving passengers an equality of spatial experience to those departing. Its rational plan arrangement is forecast to deliver minimum connection times of just 40 minutes, the best in the region, with simple way-finding and airside connectivity.
Thames Tideway Tunnel
Thames Tideway Tunnel is a major infrastructure project which will prevent millions of tonnes of untreated sewage from entering the iconic River Thames. It has created the opportunity to enhance the experience of one of the world’s most famous rivers through the creation of a necklace of public spaces above new civil engineering works. This follows a great tradition in the UK for treating major infrastructure works as a positive challenge to not only meet operational needs but also improve the quality and accessibility of civic, public space. The eight central sites span five London boroughs, stretching 10km from Falconbrook Pumping Station in the west to Blackfriars Bridge in the east. The project follows in the civic spirit of the original Bazalgette scheme with most sites situated on the foreshore and each sharing the same aim: to bring people closer to the river. These spaces will introduce vibrant destinations along the river and offer a whole new experience of the water’s edge and entirely new views to and from the foreshore when the project is completed in 2023. A carefully considered design framework has been considered that looks at both the wider river context and unique local characteristics, embracing a strategic urban vision along the river for greater connectivity and public realm that is rich in identity. The project is a complex stakeholder environment and includes consulting with over 25 organisations including the Port of London Authority, Environment Agency, Transport for London, Marine Management Organisation, Historic England, Thames Water, in addition to respective local planning authorities and landowners. At each site, the architects are working with artists to integrate a diverse range of artworks into the architecture and landscape, offering the opportunity to creatively respond to Bazalgette’s pioneering sewer system as part of a project-wide heritage interpretation strategy. Blackfriars Bridge Located at a point of historic significance where the lost river Fleet meets the tidal River Thames, and once considered the transition between salt water and fresh water, today the Blackfriars site is one of the best connected and most visible places in London. Here, 4,600m2 of new public space will be introduced to the foreshore. The landscape design of the main civic space, large enough to host events, tells the story of the tunnel and engineering beneath the ground, while an area of more intimate spaces reflect the journey of the Fleet from Hampstead Heath to the Thames through a series of planted terraces. Large-scale sculptures by an artist have been integrated into the landscape. Victoria Embankment This prominent site sits within the formal and civic context of Whitehall Palace, under the gaze of the London Eye. The area epitomises the city’s infamous Victorian Embankments, which have inspired the design of the new architecture and landscape that provides a viewing point for Westminster. The narrative is a journey through the tunnels from Bazalgette’s pioneering engineering to modern-day, ground-breaking solutions, which are expressed through a family of patterns integrated into the features across the terraced public realm. Chelsea Embankment Located at a green and tranquil point along the Thames, this site has been designed to feel part of the river and provide a space for contemplation; it has a restorative quality in the context of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The language of bricks found in the existing river wall and Victorian sewer system (with reference to the lost river Westbourne) have informed the materiality of the design. Brick contours generate flowing forms that rise and fall to create terraces of steps, seating and kiosks, which enclose the space closest to the road and ‘erode’ on the outer edge, opening up views of the river. This gives the foreshore structure an organic character while accommodating the complex engineering and operational constraints.
The Ark, Noah's Ark Children's Hospice
The Ark launched in 2019 as a new highly-sustainable facility for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, specifically designed to support children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and their families, and is the first new hospice building in London for 10 years. The Ark allows the charity to increase the scale and quality of their work, who previously provided care for children and their families in homes or hired halls. The brief sought an inspiring space for palliative care, relaxation and adventure within a ‘home from home’ environment, as an evolution of the approach taken with Maggie’s Centres or Teenage Cancer Trust HUBs to design a centre specifically for the needs of children. Situated within a 7.5-acre nature reserve, The Ark is discreetly carved into the hillside and offers a holistic indoor-outdoor care journey not restricted to treatment rooms but which begins upon arrival, expands through the building and continues to the therapeutic gardens, demonstrating the ultimate link between palliative care, wellbeing and nature. Conceived as square-shaped, with landscaped gardens eroding each side, the concept evolved to sculpt a butterfly plan – the symbol of the children’s hospice movement depicting a brief but beautiful life. A double-height oak framed entrance hall, glazed at each end, creates a light, striking open volume as an uplifting space for families to socialise. Four brick-clad wings that lead off the central hall provide space for therapies, children’s bedrooms, family rooms and administration, respectively. At the lower ground level, private functions include bereavement suites, a multi-faith room and staff facilities. Each room has a link with the landscape via large windows, doors and openable timber panels, creating a domestic rather than medicalised environment. Bedrooms have poster boards and desks to personalise them, and family rooms cater for the cultural diversity of families in the area - including adjoining rooms to allow for separation of genders, and PIR lighting for Jewish families during Sabbath. Special care was taken to ensure that mobility equipment and children’s beds can access virtually all spaces, including large south-facing external terraces and gardens, encouraging them to engage in activities. Inbuilt hoists create a fully-accessible environment. Understanding the stress that clinical environments can cause, the landscape was designed to provide a safe, restorative outdoor setting where children and families can find respite and comfort. The Ark is the first time a bio-solar green roof, with 185 photovoltaic panels has been used in the UK, generating significant electricity for the building. Harvesting all rainfall via a surface drainage system, the green roof mitigates flooding risk on the sloping site and reuses water within the landscape irrigation system. The Ark was achieved through a unique collaboration between the design, property and construction sectors coming together to support the ‘Building the Ark’ appeal. Collaborators were involved from concept and fundraising through to planning and delivery, working on either a pro bono or non-profit basis.
The Aspen at Consort Place
The Aspen forms a focal point for the growing community at West Marsh. The spaces and facilities provided by the scheme will serve both the existing community and future residents. The new public square at the heart of the site is framed by the restored 19th century North Pole Pub. To the west; a mixed tenure residential tower is set above a new primary school, to the east a second, taller, tower accommodates a health centre, hotel and apartments. The proposals restore the historic north-south link to Marsh Wall through a generous landscaped ramped connection, accessible to all. Employment Our client will operate a 250 key hotel as part of the development. Architecturally, the hotel is expressed as an independent wing to the south of the main tower. As well as providing local employment, the hotel animates the public realm and offers public access to the planned sky garden at the top of the building. Health and Education The Aspen addresses the shortfall in primary school spaces in Tower Hamlets through the delivery of a new two-form entry primary school, accommodating 420 children. The school’s classrooms enjoy direct connections to a series of south facing landscaped terraces and a generous play space set above the ground floor hall - a space which functions out of hours as a community facility. Two multi use games areas are proposed. One above the school hall on a first-floor podium deck and a second at the interface between the school and the residential accommodation above. A series of south facing, landscaped garden terraces provide external play and learning spaces for each of the classrooms of the primary school. A new GP surgery is set on the opposite side of the square.
The Black and White Building
The Black and White Building The design pushes the boundaries of sustainable workplace design, with a concept derived from the materials and the aspiration to use the minimum whilst achieving the maximum. Offering flexible, shared workspaces in the heart of the city, Black and White is central London’s tallest fully engineered office building, setting a powerful exemplar of sustainable building, with only 410 kgCO2e/m2 embodied carbon (A1-A5). Each component has been designed to be as efficient as possible, resulting in an honest design without excess. Located in a busy area of offices, it was essential that the building’s construction did not negatively affect its surrounding; through its use of CLT, the project took around six months less to build and involved 80% fewer truck deliveries than an equivalent concrete building, reducing congestion and pollution on the streets. Offsite prefabrication further reduced site waste and enabled a quiet, dust free, dry construction site. A site waste management plan was implemented to reduce construction waste, whilst a pre-demolition audit of the existing structure was carried out with recyclable waste streams identified, and as a result much of the site waste was diverted from landfill. Through its use of off-site, prefabricated engineered mass-timber, the Black and White Building represents a new urban design typology that actively reduces the environmental consequences of the construction sector. Generating 37% less embodied carbon than a concrete building, the Black & White Building saves 1,083.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and 55% of the embodied carbon of the building is sequestered within the timber structure itself. By optimizing its use of materials, the building achieves only 528 kgCO2e/m2 of embodied carbon, resulting in a LETI A rating (A-C), and a BREEAM Excellent rating. The aesthetic finishing of the building is derived from purely function al components; parametrically designed timber curtain wall reduces solar gain, maximises internal light levels, and enhances natural ventilation. To ensure that our building met its ambitious sustainability credentials, Life Cycle Assessments were integrated as a central tenet of our design methodology. This assessment considers the environmental impact of all the stages of a building's life, taking into consideration the raw materials and energy used in production, construction, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life disposal. The use of LCAs throughout the design development of a building can help inform decisions, highlighting of certain material inefficiencies and encouraging the use or construction types over others. The calculation of the building's carbon impact is split between the various components which make up a building, helping to draw attention to the specific areas of improvement. Incorporating this practice within design development encourages industry stakeholders to take accountability for the carbon impacts of what we build, and sets a powerful new precedent in the ambition to decarbonise construction.
The Black & White Building
Nestled in the ultra-low emission streets of London sits The Black & White Building, an innovative workspace that marries wellbeing and productivity with environmental and sustainability ambition. The Black & White Building has been built to meet the demands of tomorrow, from the materials of today. This boundary pushing building will be central London’s tallest mass timber office on completion and sets a new benchmark for sustainability, demonstrating that timber is not only a viable alternative to the conventional concrete and steel traditionally used to build offices, but when it comes to performance and sustainability, it is actually the preferable option. Carefully considered design and material choices have created a building that has minimised carbon in both its construction and its operation. The simplicity of this fully engineered timber structure, belies its ground-breaking innovation. Material use has been optimised with each component designed to be as efficient as possible, resulting in an honest design without excess. A life cycle analysis of The Black & White building has demonstrated that the use of structural timber rather than concrete has reduced the embodied carbon by 37%. Additionally there is over 1,000 tonnes of CO2e stored within the structure of the building, which will remain in the timber so long as it is in use. This is equivalent to 55% of the embodied carbon of the building. As well as minimising embodied carbon, the design also addresses operational carbon, ensuring client businesses both reduce their carbon footprint, and save on energy costs. The state of the art timber structure is framed by a glazed curtain wall, with solar shading provided by a second skin of vertical timber louvres. A parametric model simulating the movement and impact of the sun against the façade determined the layout and form of the louvres. The positioning of the louvres as they ascend the building, tracks the sun’s movement over the course of the day providing natural shade, reducing solar gain on the façade and boosting the natural light reaching the interior; minimising reliance on carbon heavy mechanical ventilation and heating systems. Internally The Black & White Building has been consciously designed to encourage interaction and collaboration, enabling people to connect through a variety of spaces in multiple ways. Lounges of various sizes and layouts are found throughout, as well as plentiful break-out areas and pockets of outdoor space, culminating in a decked rooftop terrace offering spellbinding cityscape views. On the lower-ground floor, beside the indoor courtyard is a dedicated yoga and barre studio which will host a timetable of wellness activities focused on holistic health. As with the exterior, every feature of the internal space is functional and honest, echoing the emphasis on timber as the structural essence of the building - the environmental credentials are clearly written into the materials. The entire building is visibly sustainable. The sensory impact of the natural materials used throughout the space is significant and creates a contemporary-cathedral like quality, leaving visitors with a sense of overwhelming optimism about the building.
The Blade Gate
The Blade Gate London, UK In 2017 Pilbrow & Partners was invited to develop ideas for a new bridge in east London to improve connectivity and strengthen local economies. The Blade Gate provides a distinctive, elegant and logical response to the challenge of spanning the lower Thames. It will connect existing communities in Wapping and Rotherhithe and promote a wider arc of regeneration between Aldgate and Canada Water. Location Pedestrian movement has historically acted as an engine for development and growth, underpinning vitality and economic activity in cities. River-edge neighbourhoods can be disadvantaged in this respect by decreased connectivity and the resultant lower pedestrian flows. Spaces behind the riverfront itself can feel isolated with few shops and limited activation of the public realm. A pedestrian bridge across the lower Thames has the potential to transform movement on both banks thereby to serve as a powerful engine for regeneration. Pedestrian movement specialists Space Syntax explored 115 potential crossing points between Tower Bridge and the Thames Barrier to assess where a new bridge would offer the greatest benefit. The Blade Gate’s position, connecting Wapping and Rotherhithe, was selected through a scoring matrix which assessed: • The movement potential across the bridge itself; • The increase in pedestrian movement engendered in the neighbouring districts; • The width of the crossing and the availability of suitable landing positions on both banks. On the north bank in Wapping, the bridge picks up the powerful line of movement along Cannon Street Road running north to Whitechapel; to the south, the bridge connects to the major open space of Southwark Park and beyond to the regeneration centres of Canada Water and Old Kent Road. Design A bridge across the lower reaches of the river must accommodate tall ships. The Blade Gate has a central lifting deck that is continuously supported by masts at either end. Counterweights within these towers allow the deck to be rapidly lifted with minimal energy use. The masts provide markers on the lines of approach to the bridge and support lighting for the deck at night. The bridge structure developed with engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan is an optimized steel monocoque structural steel tube which spans 60m between the masts. The variable profile of the deck sections reflects the bending moments acting along the span. The counterweights are glass elements that are exposed within the steel structure of the masts. They drop when the bridge is opened to close the pedestrian route whilst the deck is elevated.
The Reflection Garden at 25 Cannon Street
Tom Stuart-Smith oversaw the transformation of an existing 1500m3 garden space at 25 Cannon Street, located adjacent to St. Paul’s Cathedral, in the City of London. The Reflection Garden, as it is now called, is privately owned by a property company. The Architect for the building was Buckley Gray Yeoman. We wanted to create an attractive green space for people to look and feel connected with the historic surroundings, improving bio-diversity in this urban environment, whilst providing seclusion for people from the frenetic urban energy. The project also needed to address the challenge of opening up large skylights to a pre-existing, underused basement beneath the garden so as to realise its development potential. The team balanced a strong conceptual and artistic approach with a rigorous technical understanding that achieved the overarching vision, whilst creating a transformed public space that increased urban permeability and improved the building’s contribution to the public realm and its historic context. Tom Stuart-Smith developed the idea of a reflecting water basin as a skylight that would become a focal point, forging a connection between the garden and its historic surroundings. Working in collaboration with water feature specialist Andrew Ewing, we designed a large reflection pool that serves as both a continuous bench and holds a mirror to the sky capturing remarkable reflections of St Paul’s Cathedral – turning the previously challenging skylight into a contemplative centrepiece to a calm green space. The water feature conceals two large skylights that bring daylight deep into basement. Through careful management of optics, we ensured that at no point do visitors to the garden see into the basement. The planting in the garden offers a rich and multi-layered experience that balances simplicity and complexity, providing year-round interest and ground coverage thus playing on the garden’s name by creating a secluded, peaceful and shaded space where the public can pause (and reflect) throughout the day. The chosen seasonal planting is richly varied and textural and is placed alongside bird and bat boxes and insect hotels to improve biodiversity. We worked closely with the city planners to ensure that this garden upholds the City Corporation’s plans to ensure the Square Mile is a vibrant destination for leisure as well as work and as a result of its introduction, the Urban Greening Factor has been raised from 0.29 to 0.49. The garden was opened to the public in 2022 and has received a hugely positive response for improving the building’s contribution to the public realm and its historic context. Additionally, a new roof terrace atop the building provides a flexible amenity space for the building’s users, whilst significantly increasing the biodiversity in the local area. This is achieved through a selection of plant species that are attractive to a range of pollinators, as well as herbs and fruiting trees.
The Fortnum’s Bar and Restaurant at The Royal Exchange
Design Brief The aim of this project was to create a destination restaurant and bar which captured the spirit of Fortnum & Mason’s Piccadilly store, its 300 years of heritage and tradition and transpose it into a new context within the Royal Exchange, London. The restaurant and bar needed to provide both table and counter dining for up to 90 covers and be suitable to operate from breakfast through to evening dining. The design had to be sensitive to the historical context of the Royal Exchange while also acting as a Fortnum & Mason brand beacon. The scale, level of transparency, materiality, colour and detail all needed to sit in harmony within the Grade I Listed architecture. Design Results The central bar takes design cues from delicate architectural details from Fortnum & Mason’s Piccadilly store, historic frame structures, travelling canopies, lattice work, English silverware - but with a contemporary interpretation. The canopy has a sense of openness while also being sculptural and beautiful - allowing it to create an impact but without hindering key views into the Royal Exchange atrium. The restrained, warm, textured material palette compliments the hues of the Royal Exchange’s dominant material; Portland stone. The chosen materials are of high quality, with a sense of texture and character which will age gracefully. Respecting the surrounding neoclassical architecture, the bar is proportioned to sit harmoniously within the vast internal atrium whilst creating a sense of intimacy at human scale. All of the metal work and hand-blown glass lampshades and vases are made in the South East of England, whilst the bespoke leather banquettes incorporate the iconic Fortnum & Mason ‘eau de nil’ colour palette. The design of this restaurant and bar project brings luxury heritage and tradition to an iconic destination in the heart of the city of London by skilfully marrying a modern bar and dining destination within the classical architecture.
The Ray Farringdon
The project consists of the replacement of an outdated and unattractive building, reinventing a site that was previously occupied by the headquarters of a major British newspaper and media company. The new scheme proposes a mix of offices, affordable workspace, hospitality and retail set within new and enhanced areas of public realm that re-establish connections to historic streets and spaces. Connecting the City of London with King’s Cross, Farringdon Road runs through the heart of Clerkenwell – a centre for London’s creative industries – and provides some of the area’s most recognisable and prominent streetscapes. Surrounding the site are many converted Victorian warehouse buildings which had historically served trade in Clerkenwell and the railways at Farringdon and King’s Cross. The Ray Farringdon offers a contemporary interpretation of this character, and complements and enhances its conservation area context. The proposal expresses the history of its Clerkenwell setting, referencing the area’s traditional massing, elevational approaches, and materials – particularly the use of brick. Four different brick bond types have been chosen for the facades: Flemish bond and English bond, which have been informed by the older buildings in the surrounding area; stretcher bond, reflecting the more recent ones; and the inclusion of stacked headers, a contemporary addition to the palette. The stacked headers are provided at ground floor, English bond to first and second floors, Flemish bond to third and fourth floors, and stretcher bond to fifth, sixth and seventh floors, including the use of glazed bricks at the sixth and seventh floors. A number of brick colours are used within each of the defined areas, emphasising the bond types. The building is defined by the stepped form to its rear, providing accessible, planted terraces to the upper levels, whilst respecting the scale and amenity of neighbouring residential buildings. The development completed in 2019 provides a total of 100,000 square feet of space activating the street in this part of Farringdon Road and re-establishing Clerkenwell’s special character on a long-unloved site.
The Rockery
Strategy The Rockery invents a new topographic quarter within the flat grain of London’s Hyde neighbourhood — a residential-led, mixed-use project where architecture and landscape are composed as a layered terrain. The name draws from the British typology of the rockery: a heaped arrangement of rough stones with soil between them, planted with hardy, often alpine species. This idea of constructing ground — assembling, layering, cultivating in section — underpins the architectural strategy. Set on a long-overlooked site, the project restores access to the Silk Stream, a previously concealed river along the site’s eastern edge. A new diagonal route links the open green spaces to the west with the revitalised river corridor — transforming a locked, linear plot into a civic connector and ecological asset. This planted spine — part stair, part park, part water-sensitive landscape — becomes the project’s social and spatial core. The Rockery delivers 644 homes, supported by a carefully integrated mix of non-residential uses: café, commercial units, community infrastructure, and large-format storage. These are embedded within a sculpted podium that steps across the site, mediating between public and private, soft and hard, architectural and ecological realms. While three buildings rise from this constructed terrain, the fourth — The Alcove — is grounded directly adjacent to the river, anchoring the eastern edge with a quiet civic presence. Specificity Where the site once offered only flatness and infrastructural neglect, The Rockery fabricates a new kind of urban ground. The podium acts as a continuous landform — foundation and frame for three of the buildings, each distinct in massing and articulation, yet bound by a shared language of embeddedness. The stepping geometry shapes public routes and private thresholds, carving out terraces, planted ledges, and garden courts. The architectural language draws directly from the rockery typology: gabion walls and textured concrete evoke constructed geology; planting spills from gaps and edges; voids are cut into façades to create loggias, balconies and shade. These are buildings designed in section — responsive not just to skyline but to the flows and pauses of ground-level life. At its eastern edge, the project frames the once-invisible Silk Stream. Here, the fourth block — The Alcove — sits at grade, marking the river’s presence and reinforcing its role as an accessible public edge within Hyde’s renewed civic landscape. Sustainability Sustainability is embedded in the project’s structure. The terraced podium acts as green infrastructure — enabling drainage, reducing excavation, and supporting layered planting that fosters biodiversity and resilience. A rewilded palette of native, low-maintenance species recalls the opportunistic ecologies of brownfield sites while offering seasonal richness. Construction is resource-conscious: panelised wall systems and dry gabion assemblies reduce embodied carbon; site-won material is reused; a durable material palette favours longevity. Passive strategies drive comfort — natural ventilation, dual-aspect layouts, solar orientation, and universal access to outdoor space. The Rockery makes sustainability spatial - it proposes an architecture of terrain: ecologically alive, communally scaled, and unapologetically hybrid.
Thirty High
# Thirty High Thirty High is BGY's forward-thinking vertical development that responds directly to the challenges of urban densification, climate change and community cohesion. The 30-storey mixed-use tower combines residential accommodation with flexible workspaces and community facilities, all integrated within a carefully considered public realm. Located in a dense urban context, the scheme's distinctive form features a series of stepped terraces and sky gardens that provide residents with valuable outdoor space while supporting biodiversity and urban cooling. The building's orientation and massing have been optimised to maximise natural daylight and ventilation, reducing energy demand from the outset. At the heart of the project is a commitment to future-proofing. Thirty High employs an innovative modular structural system that allows for internal reconfiguration throughout the building's lifespan without significant intervention. This adaptability ensures the development can respond to changing market demands and evolving patterns of use, substantially extending its useful life and reducing embodied carbon through avoided demolition cycles. The façade system balances thermal performance with visual connectivity to the surroundings, while integrated renewable energy generation and advanced building management systems work to minimise operational carbon. The project targets net zero carbon in operation and significantly reduced embodied carbon compared to conventional tall buildings. Ground floor spaces are designed to foster community interaction, with a generous lobby, shared amenities and active frontages that engage with the surrounding streetscape. Upper levels feature a mix of unit types to support diverse household compositions and varying price points, creating a genuinely inclusive vertical neighbourhood. Thirty High demonstrates how thoughtful, forward-looking design can create tall buildings that not only address immediate housing and workplace needs but remain valuable, adaptable and sustainable assets for generations to come.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium General Admission Interiors
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium sets a new benchmark for stadium interiors, showcasing world-class design and providing an enhanced experience for every fan, no matter what ticket they hold. Jump Studios and Populous have designed a variety of destinations within the stadium for fans to meet up before, during and after matches. These spaces elevate the matchday experience, offering more choice and unique experiences, while also providing considerable added value for the club as spectators bring their custom to the ground well before kick-off. In a survey of 4,300 Tottenham Hotspur fans, 93 per cent of fans said they were getting to Tottenham’s new ground at least 30 minutes before kick-off to experience the facilities on offer. The design schemes feature a wide palette of concrete, metal and reclaimed timbers, used to complement the surrounding urban area and reinforce a strong sense of authenticity for fans. At the heart of the stadium’s fan offering is the Market Place beneath the South Stand. Located within a stunning five-storey atrium, here, a multitude of different food offerings float like islands on the wide expanse of concourse, and on the far wall the longest bar in Europe, the Goal Line Bar, stretches 65 metres from one end of the space to the other. Supporters can choose from fish and chips from the Linesman outlet, a burger from the N17 Grill, a pizza from the Smashed Olive or Asian cuisine from the Naan & Noodle. Alongside the Market Place is the Beavertown Tottenham Taproom, where fans can enjoy an exciting range of craft beers brewed just metres away in the world’s first in-stadium microbrewery. The design scheme merges key elements of Beavertown’s distinctive look and feel – aliens, spaceships, skulls – with the familiar material palette from the stadium’s concourse and Tottenham Hotspur’s brand colours to create a vibrant space and a truly unique matchday experience for fans. On the general concourse, three feature bars inspired by Tottenham Hotspur’s history and the local area inject further life and character into the stadium’s interiors. The designs draw inspiration from the best elements of the modern premium hospitality landscape, combining these with the industrious materiality of traditional English pubs to create a series of authentic bar experiences that rival the very best high street offering.
UCL East, Marshgate
Marshgate is a new type of academic building at the heart of the UCL East Campus – the largest single expansion of University College London since its foundation nearly 200 years ago. The vision for Marshgate is based on the recognition that the answers to the global challenges facing our planet lie less within traditional disciplines than in the interaction between them. To enable new interdisciplinary ways of working, the design focussed on highly flexible spaces that encourage collaboration between teaching, research, academia and the public. This was an ambitious and challenging brief, not least because no existing UCL faculty was to be based at Marshgate. Instead, the building was to house entirely new cross-disciplinary courses along with multi-disciplinary, highly specialised laboratories where, for instance, materials scientists, engineers and finance experts could work alongside art conservationists. This meant that we couldn’t base our design around user-engagement on current needs, or analysis of existing facilities in need of improvement. Instead, we worked intensively with UCL staff and academics to understand what new teaching and research they might be undertaking in the future. Together we developed concepts for new facilities needed both in the immediate and longer term. Our main concern was with the wat the building functioned socially, encouraging interaction between users, activities and disciplines. This led us to focus the expression and identity of Marshgate around the main collaborative spaces and communal areas. As a result, Marshgate’s organisational strategy consists of 8 floors grouped into 'vertical neighbourhoods' of 2/3 floors. Horseshoe-shaped in plan, each ‘neighbourhood’ is oriented towards different views of the Olympic Park and organised around a double/triple height collaboration space – intended as a stage-set for groupwork. A central daylit atrium connects all activities vertically and highly visible circulation routes create further opportunities for interaction. Student, academic and research spaces are located on the central floors, with highly specialised laboratories on the upper levels. The lower levels include a network of publicly accessible spaces with a café, art displays and activities designed to draw the public into the building, blurring the boundaries between interior/exterior and facilitating engagement with local businesses and communities. As well as creating an environment where a collaborative spirit can flourish, Marshgate is designed to be robust and flexible, able to adapt to changing needs as new ways of working emerge. Stringent performance criteria, including floor loadings and vibration requirements, led to the selection of an in-situ concrete frame which also provides thermal mass to moderate the internal environment and is exposed internally as part of a strategy where materials are self-finished for longevity and low maintenance. Externally, the building establishes a strong sculptural presence in dialogue with the infrastructure-scaled architectures of the park. The facade’s precast concrete panels feature a variety of tones/textures that draw on the character of the Lea valley’s industrial heritage. These high performance, long-lasting facades, which reduce solar gain whilst providing natural ventilation and high levels of daylighting, exemplify the fabric-first and passive design strategies that underpin Marshgate’s design.
UCLH Phase 5 - ENT and Dental Hospital
UCLH Phase 5 marks the latest phase of the hospital’s main campus regeneration, providing a specialist facility for ear, nose, throat and dental medicine. The site in London on Huntley Street is set at the heart of the Bloomsbury Conservation Area adjacent to listed residential neighbours. The newly completed award-winning hospital increases operational efficiency, reduces energy consumption, and puts the patient experience at the heart of the design. Intrinsically our design approach centres around the experience of the patients, visitors and the hospital staff. We have carefully considered the challenges our clients in the sector are facing, not only from a context perspective, but especially from a users’ perspective. The building design provides an environment which reduces stress and anxiety for the patients by providing clustered, bright and airy treatment zones. This shortens patient pathways, provides open day-lit waiting areas together with a stimulating art strategy. This should improve the outcomes for all patients being treated. Traditionally, such buildings are planned with clinical spaces at the facade and waiting areas at the core. Phase 5, by contrast, inverts this organisation with waiting areas on the street facade set in a range of bay windows. The architectural language of perforated brick screens provide shading to the more generously scaled communal waiting areas. The elements of the core - lifts, stairs and risers are each reflected in the external massing creating an articulated silhouette that serves to denote the hospital’s entrance for patients approaching from the north and west. The form and detail of these bays offer a contemporary reinterpretation of the bays of the adjacent 19th century mansion blocks. Passive solar shading is an integral part of the elevational design approach. The interior spaces are protected from southern solar gain by screens of perforated brickwork which peal out from the main body of the facade. The external shading and exploitation of thermal mass contribute to the building’s excellent environmental performance; Phase 5 is designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ accreditation. The 11,000 sqm hospital pulls together the specialist treatments formerly provided by the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and the Eastman Dental Hospital which collaboratively supports over 200,000 outpatient appointments per year.
V&A Photography Centre
The V&A’s Photography Centre is the most extensive suite of galleries in the UK dedicated to a permanent photography collection. Spanning global contemporary photography and cutting-edge commissions, to interactive displays and themed galleries showcasing the rich breadth and history of the collection, the seven galleries of the completed Photography Centre – five of which are new additions – enable visitors to experience photography and its diverse histories in new ways. This sequence of five galleries demanded an architecture agile enough to clearly explain the idea of photography while addressing complex structural and curatorial challenges. The visitor experience ebbs and flows in intensity along the enfilade of rooms but remains coherent with the first phase. The first room, a digital gallery, instantly engages visitors with a large-scale AI digital native photography. This immersive space contrasts with the next room, Photography and the Book, which has a feeling of snug enclosure, presenting a moment to stop or study. The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) book collection forms the inner lining of the space, supported by a finely detailed structure of bookshelves, balustrades and bridges cantilevered from the gallery walls to avoid loading to the floors. We wrapped this scenography with a freestanding wall offering glimpses of a back-of-house space for the librarians. Insertions for book display are kept neutral: the artefacts are the ornamentation. The architecture takes a step back in the two display galleries that follow, minimising visual noise to maximise the impact of larger-scale pieces. The spaces, some of most significant 19th century galleries in the UK, are sensitively restored for 2d display, the original function when conceived as picture galleries. Simple display cases, a new parquet floor and track lighting touch the historic shell lightly, giving a feel of openness and volume. The scheme was co-designed with a group of young people to ensure the spaces felt relevant and inclusive. Their participation is evident in the final room, an interactive gallery, where they proposed an emphasis on the fundamentals of photography. A camera obscura demonstrates the photographic process, artefacts hover above cases lined in two-way glass, their workings exposed via backlighting at the touch of a button.
Woolwich Elizabeth Line Station
Woolwich is unique as the only new station on the Elizabeth Line, and is a key element in a masterplan for the regeneration of the former Royal Arsenal site, alongside 3,750 new homes and new cultural, heritage, commercial and leisure projects. Its regenerative role means that what takes place above ground is just as important as what happens beneath: the station with its associated public realm connects it and the area’s new community to the wider town centre, and together with a series of Grade I and II listed buildings frames Dial Arch Square – a historic green space that is adjusted to form a gateway to the area. Initial proposals for Crossrail did not include a station at Woolwich, although the alignment passed through the site as the masterplan was being developed. Initial work demonstrated how a new station at Woolwich could incorporate the ventilation access and egress required needed in this location, while integrating with development and delivering transformational benefits to the local area that enhance the value of the new line. The architectural vision for Woolwich station springs from its location within the historic Woolwich Arsenal site and the rich heritage of the former military buildings nearby. The Arsenal had become separated from Woolwich town centre: this building and its improved public realm now reconnects the site to the wider neighbourhood. The single storey entrance building respects the smallest and oldest buildings of the site around Dial Arch Square, and signals the station’s role as a major public building. A simple bronze portal with a 27 metre wide clear span provides a monumental entrance that allows this rather quiet building to hold its own against the much larger modern blocks of the masterplan. Beyond the portal is a very calm and simple space, leading people through and down the escalators to the station platforms. Sinuous concrete beams overhead are delicate yet powerful elements, and alongside contrasting perforated steel panels and thin lighting strips, lend visual interest to the space and contribute towards an uplifting passenger experience. The station’s robust architecture responds to the former military buildings that define the Royal Arsenal site. This is reflected in the tough yet simple palette of brick, concrete, steel and bronze - while incorporating details that reference the site’s military history. Perforated external cladding contains images of ‘Britainnia and the Lion’ – familiar from the pre-decimal penny but also used on ceremonial coins struck at Woolwich commemorating the fallen of the Great War. The façade also incorporates over 350 cast bronze panels referencing the rifling within the barrel of an artillery piece known as the Woolwich System, developed on the site in the 19th century. Below ground, pillars in the station concourse have a tiled motif in the colours of the Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery – both regiments which were originally based at the Arsenal site.
x+why, People's Mission Hall
X+why, People’s Mission Hall in Whitechapel is the first workspace by x+why, and aims to create a series of spaces which unite purpose-driven businesses. The five-storey building delivers over 22,500 sq ft of creative working environments that reflect the client’s perception of coworking - a place that fosters greater purpose. The client’s ethos merges design, technology and wellness to offer its community of businesses a cultural programme designed to inspire members to recognise the link between people, profit and the planet. The site has a long history of philanthropy, community and social action. It was the location for the original Salvation Army Mission Hall, which supplied food to the local area and later became the Salvation HQ. This historical significance led the client to reinstate the building as ‘People’s Mission Hall’. Working within the shell of the refurbished existing buildings and modern addition, completed by Rivington Street Studio in 2018, Squire & Partners collaborated with sister branding agency Mammal to create an identity and design aesthetic true to x+why’s values. Inspiration was taken from the history of Whitechapel, specifically its heritage of tanneries and local markets, and its more recent reincarnation as an area for the arts and with a unique mix of cultures and traditions. Designs offset robust materials and raw finishes with a layer of comfortable seating, rugs and freestanding furniture to invoke a domestic and social atmosphere. Natural greenery, artwork sourced from local creatives and second-hand vintage pieces from nearby markets are also a key element of the workspace’s character. A market feel is invoked with booths flanked in striped panels, and flexible metal-framed elements used for bar and counter tops. The colour palette establishes a traditional oxblood colour alongside dark metal and natural timber finishes, combined with a series of bold colours on the workplace floors including blues, greens and yellows. At street level, a retail unit and café with lounge area leads to a reception for the x+why workspace. Beyond the reception area, members are provided with communal spaces including comfortable seating areas, a light-filled wellness studio, flexible event/presentation rooms, a ‘market stall’ area for pop ups, and ‘foam booths’ – acoustic screened booths made from recycled foam – all set around a central courtyard garden. Cycle storage and showers are also provided. On the first floor, workspace units are designed for small to medium businesses alongside shared meeting rooms, breakout spaces and tea points. Glazed panels between units and shared spaces encourage a sense of community. At second floor a flexible creative space is designed to host a variety of events, from workshops and presentations to social gatherings. Further workspace units and shared amenities are provided at third and fourth floors. Working within a Cat A shell, waste was minimised by using 90% of existing lighting, and original locations were retained for bikes, showers and tea points to minimise changes to the building infrastructure. This first x+why weaves Whitechapel’s local craft, community, multiculturalism and attitude of advancement into its design, creating a sense of place and somewhere that pushes the boundaries of how a coworking space behaves. Two months after launching, the space was 80% let with tenants who underpin x+why’s purpose driven business mission, including MuslimGiving, LIVI, The London Interdisciplinary School, B Corp and more. x+why, People’s Mission Hall in Whitechapel is the first workspace by x+why, and aims to create a series of spaces which unite purpose-driven businesses. The five-storey building delivers over 22,500 sq ft of creative working environments that reflect the client’s perception of coworking - a place that fosters greater purpose. The client’s ethos merges design, technology and wellness to offer its community of businesses a cultural programme designed to inspire members to recognise the link between people, profit and the planet. The site has a long history of philanthropy, community and social action. It was the location for the original Salvation Army Mission Hall, which supplied food to the local area and later became the Salvation HQ. This historical significance led the client to reinstate the building as ‘People’s Mission Hall’. Working within the shell of the refurbished existing buildings and modern addition, completed by Rivington Street Studio in 2018, Squire & Partners collaborated with sister branding agency Mammal to create an identity and design aesthetic true to x+why’s values. Inspiration was taken from the history of Whitechapel, specifically its heritage of tanneries and local markets, and its more recent reincarnation as an area for the arts and with a unique mix of cultures and traditions. Designs offset robust materials and raw finishes with a layer of comfortable seating, rugs and freestanding furniture to invoke a domestic and social atmosphere. Natural greenery, artwork sourced from local creatives and second-hand vintage pieces from nearby markets are also a key element of the workspace’s character. A market feel is invoked with booths flanked in striped panels, and flexible metal-framed elements used for bar and counter tops. The colour palette establishes a traditional oxblood colour alongside dark metal and natural timber finishes, combined with a series of bold colours on the workplace floors including blues, greens and yellows. At street level, a retail unit and café with lounge area leads to a reception for the x+why workspace. Beyond the reception area, members are provided with communal spaces including comfortable seating areas, a light-filled wellness studio, flexible event/presentation rooms, a ‘market stall’ area for pop ups, and ‘foam booths’ – acoustic screened booths made from recycled foam – all set around a central courtyard garden. Cycle storage and showers are also provided. On the first floor, workspace units are designed for small to medium businesses alongside shared meeting rooms, breakout spaces and tea points. Glazed panels between units and shared spaces encourage a sense of community. At second floor a flexible creative space is designed to host a variety of events, from workshops and presentations to social gatherings. Further workspace units and shared amenities are provided at third and fourth floors. Working within a Cat A shell, waste was minimised by using 90% of existing lighting, and original locations were retained for bikes, showers and tea points to minimise changes to the building infrastructure. This first x+why weaves Whitechapel’s local craft, community, multiculturalism and attitude of advancement into its design, creating a sense of place and somewhere that pushes the boundaries of how a coworking space behaves. Two months after launching, the space was 80% let with tenants who underpin x+why’s purpose driven business mission, including MuslimGiving, LIVI, The London Interdisciplinary School, B Corp and more.
Bankside Yards
Bankside Yards sits on a prominent location along the River Thames in the London Borough of Southwark. It lies at the heart of the riverside cultural district that extends from the Tate Modern and Borough Market to Southbank Centre and the National Theatre. In addition, the emerging cluster of towers at the foot of Blackfriars Bridge is helping it to become one of the Borough’s key gateways. The 1.4 million ft2 site is separated into two portions, the Eastern Yards and the Western Yards, by a historic elevated railway line leading to the redeveloped Blackfriars Station. It previously housed two large, divisive and outdated buildings that were incongruous with the fabric of the surrounding neighbourhood and which, together with the closed arches of the line, physically blocked east-west movement across the site. The project’s brief sought to change this, delivering a mixed-use residential-led scheme focussed on cultural placemaking and neighbourhood integration and organised around reinvigorated railway arches and an expanded Thames Path. Besides containing a significant public realm, it needed to activate new links to surrounding streets and pathways and become a viable community asset, drawing together the established commercial, retail, cultural and residential worlds in this part of the Borough. Our master plan for the site establishes a significant destination quarter with 600 market-rate and affordable homes, offices, a five-star hotel and cultural, retail and leisure amenities. These are organised into eight unique towers (three on the Western Yards and five on the Eastern Yards) of varying height and design that step down towards the south to ensure proper integration with surrounding lower neighbourhoods. The rail viaduct, a key remnant of Southwark’s rich industrial heritage, will become one of the project’s centrepieces. Its distinct historic arches have been renovated and opened up to accommodate new passageways and 50,000 ft2 of new retail, restaurant and cultural amenities. These will be surrounded by three acres of newly created public open spaces, with extensive green areas and a sweeping stairway leading down to the riverside. A central square, east-west pedestrian links, a north-south promenade and interface with the new entrance of the redeveloped Blackfriars Station will enable enhanced connections up to and across the site. This vibrant public realm will respond to the identity and character of the neighbourhood and define a hierarchy of distinct functions, from living and workspaces to areas for play and creativity. The redevelopment will create a varied and active precinct for residents, encouraging and complementing business growth and enriching the world-renowned arts and cultural institutes and thriving performing arts venues nearby.
Piccadilly
Working with the Crown Estate, DSDHA devised plans for the redevelopment of 33-35 Piccadilly, to create a new, high-quality retail and office development. The scheme features finely-crafted elevations, finished with Portland stone, and has a highly articulated profile, linking in scale to neighbouring buildings such as the Royal Academy. It offers a generous ground and first floor arcaded elevation and masonry construction, whilst offering well-lit workspace on the floors above. The four facades address Piccadilly and Wren’s Grade I Listed St. James’s Church to the south, Swallow St (connecting to Regent St) to the west, the north towards Vine Street and to the east Piccadilly Place, adjacent to Norman Shaw’s Listed Piccadilly Hotel. The scheme will replace a post-war office block, known as Airwork House, dating from 1956 and it will offer retail on all of its elevations, as well as a new entrance to its commercial accommodation on the corner of Vine Street and Swallow Street. The building is designed with sustainability in mind, aspiring to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for the Office areas and a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating for the retail areas. The tall, light and open street frontages will encourage activity at ground level, enhancing the quality of the urban realm and offering a sense of pause opposite Wren’s church, on fast-paced Piccadilly.
Lansdowne House
Lansdowne House, a new ‘Palazzo’, will transform the southern end of Berkeley Square. The site was formally the garden to the original Lansdowne House (1768) and has only been built-upon twice. Firstly, with an elegant art deco inspired residential building (1935) and, secondly, with the existing constrained commercial building (1988) also referred to as Lansdowne House. The existing configuration - multiple cores and low floor to ceiling heights - results in an inflexible layout, unable to service the demands of a 21st century office. In contrast, the redeveloped Lansdowne House will have generous floor plates embracing a 'long life, loose fit' principle that is flexible and robust enough to last for generations. The primary structure is shaped for efficiency, celebrated, and becomes the architecture of the building, inside and out, with the use of self-finished materials, minimising consumption and reducing waste. A structurally independent core sits at the heart of the plan. The stairs, lifts and services contained within can be easily reinvented and refurbished over time due to being separated from the main structure. The proposal also seeks to restore the ‘garden and pavilion’ relationship enjoyed by the original Lansdowne House by enhancing its connection with Berkeley Square. The exterior is inspired by its context, including the original building, through its rational and classical order. Oriel windows reflect the rich heritage of Mayfair, which in combination with the celebrated primary frame, provide depth and quality. The redevelopment will include outdoor space at every level and a roof top terrace with greening and biodiversity. Loggia balconies are provided in pairs on every floor overlooking the square. Sustainability is key to the design. Enhanced thermal mass passively cools from above with fresh air supplied at low level. The building focuses on longevity and inherent flexibility and is capable of responding to future unanticipated challenges.
National Portrait Gallery
London’s National Portrait Gallery was the first portrait gallery in the world. It is housed in a Grade I-Listed building, which, in 1896, was built specifically to create a permanent home for the national collection of portraits. Jamie Fobert Architects and Purcell’s transformational project focussed on revealing and making the most of every part of this handsome and richly decorative building. There was a complete refurbishment and reconsideration of the building, with a set of architectural interventions which can be understood as a number of parallel projects. Original windows, doors and roof lights were opened to bring in natural light, and hidden areas were revealed, including a Victorian terrazzo floor. The visitor experience has been enriched by improving facilities and bringing into use areas that were previously unused, increasing public space by around a fifth and making the Gallery fit for 21st century audiences. Central to the transformation is the new accessible entrance and public forecourt, which repurposes the previously underused area to the north of the Gallery. To create the new entrance, three of the original windows on the north façade were altered to form three 4-metre-high doorways into the Gallery. The new bronze doors feature 45 specially commissioned bronze portraits of women by artist Tracey Emin. The new doorways lead into a generous new entrance hall, which is more than double the size of the Gallery’s original foyer. To achieve this, some original walls were removed and large beams designed to carry the load of the building above. Here, visitors encounter art as soon as they enter the building. The new Mildred and Simon Palley Learning Centre provides a better learning experience for children, young people, community groups and adult learners. The Centre has more than doubled the Gallery’s provision for learners, increasing from one studio to three and incorporating a gallery space, state-of-the-art digital and photography equipment and improved facilities such as a lunchroom and a new courtyard garden. There was a complete restoration of the gallery spaces: blocked windows were opened, rooflights covered in the Second World War were reinstated and infilled arches were reopened. The wooden floors that had faded in sunlight were brought back to the deep lustre of the original teak. The ceilings of all the galleries were restored and unified with a single colour. Lighting, which used to hang at the cornice level at the centre of each gallery, was lifted up into the lanterns of Floor 3 galleries, so it virtually disappears from view. “The project was primarily driven by the desire for the Gallery to turn to face the city, to open up to the public in a way the original building did not, to bring back to life the gallery spaces, and to focus attention on the handsome Victorian architecture which had been obscured. No longer awkward or overlooked, the National Portrait Gallery can now stand confidently facing the city: the great historic building Londoners never knew they had.” Jamie Fobert.
Dept W
Mile End Road is one of the main arteries into the City of London, connecting it with the post-Olympic suburb of Stratford six kilometres to the east via the communities of Whitechapel, Stepney and Mile End. In the late 1920s, the Wickham family planned a large department store on a plot on the northern side of the road. Aspiring to be the ‘Harrods of the East’, it was to be a grand, Beaux Arts-style building with an impressive colonnade to the front and a central clock tower. To realise their grand design, the Wickhams were relying on a series of smaller businesses along that particular stretch to relocate elsewhere. However, just one shopowner – a jeweller named Spiegelhalter – refused to move premises. The Wickhams, hoping that they may eventually be able to buy the holdout unit, built their new emporium (with the clock tower slightly off–centre) around the Spiegelhalter shop, which stubbornly continued to trade as the store opened to either side. This ‘missing tooth’ in the neo-classical façade became a local landmark, the Spiegelhalter business eventually surviving Wickham’s highly respected department store by almost twenty years. When Wickham’s closed in 1965, the building was divided up into smaller units By the time that we were appointed to work on the project in it had been returned to a single ownership, but the piecemeal nature of the structure behind the somewhat precarious original façade was badly in need of rationalisation. The clients, realising that this city fringe neighbourhood would attract renewed interest with the opening of the Elizabeth Line station at Whitechapel, wanted us to return the Wickham’s building to its former grandeur, reworking the space to suit a mixture of uses including offices on the upper floors and shops and leisure facilities at street level. Like many in the local and extended community, we loved the David and Goliath story of Spiegelhalter and the Wickhams, and were reluctant to fill the gap in the facade. Instead, we recognised it as an opportunity to celebrate the history of the building by retaining the holdout unit, making this the new heart and soul of the building rather than the thorn in its side. The Spiegelhalter shop is now the entrance through which all of the users pass on their way to the reception and core space behind. The original hanging façade, retained with a ghost of the original signage in the render, acts as both a relic of the building’s past and a signpost on the Mile End Road Inside, the upper levels of the building have been remodelled and unified into large, flexible workspaces. We kept the shell and core fit-out of these very simple, a background onto which the new tenants can project their own identities. As many of the original features have been retained as possible, this ‘under-designed’ approach allowing the fabric of the building itself to be the main story. Taking advantage of the piecemeal nature of the existing space, we also introduced a number of outside terraces. At ground level, the existing retail tenants have retained their units, with the awnings and fascias above rationalised to unify the grand front elevation.
The Londoner
The Londoner is a striking new flagship hotel for The Edwardian Group in Leicester Square. Woods Bagot led the architectural design for a near-decade, resulting in London’s first ‘Super-Boutique’ hotel, comprising an epic masterplan of interconnecting volumes, spaces and shafts of light. Originally a 1930’s stage-theatre, the building has undergone several iterations to form the 350-room hotel. This is complemented by two underground Odeon cinemas, six restaurants and bars, a spa and wellness facility, conference and meeting rooms, and one of London’s largest event spaces. To achieve the above on an incredibly tight urban site – also affected by height restrictions due to the site’s historical context – Woods Bagot worked closely with Arup to deliver one of the world’s deepest habitable basements. Using complex engineering methods, this meant The Londoner could contain multiple levels of amenities and back of house (BOH) facilities, all comfortably situated up to 31.5 meters below ground. With a basement this deep, every detail in the design was carefully considered – movement, air flow and lighting being key. The result is a feat of engineering, and an incredibly complex array of spaces with numerous height levels and volumes which seamlessly flow with the back-of-house operations. In addition to those structural challenges, creative architectural solutions allow people to experience the front-of-house spaces in a vertical rather than horizontal manner. Upon entering the building, guests engage with the ‘vertical club’ – a series of stacked facilities stabilised by the internal spine, which also help to lessen the building footprint, earning a BREEAM “Excellent” rating, while inhibiting circulation for guests to explore via an underground grand stair. This internal makeup is supported by six, 55-ton steel trusses installed to transfer the weight of the above-ground structure over the area of the basement. It has also provided the space for a 16-by-6.5-meter underground ballroom, as well as the two adjacent Odeon Luxe cinema screens and an atria without any columns. Externally, art and design come together in the form of The Londoner’s façade. Wrapped in a faceted, ultramarine blue faience skin made up of 30 different mosaic patterns and 15,000 hand-made terracotta tiles, this was designed in collaboration with artist Ian Monroe. The façade has also taken careful consideration of the history and context of the local area. The Londoner stands at the intersection of four neighbourhoods, each with their own aesthetics and scale. The detail and materiality of the facade has been carefully designed to respond to each neighbourhood. The Londoner is a destination for both visitors and locals alike, creating a significant number of jobs and reconnecting this corner of Leicester Square to the buzz of London’s West End. Having opened its doors in 2021, not only does this building reinforce Westminster Council’s ‘City for All’ plan but it is an exemplary show of collaboration. Woods Bagot worked very closely alongside The Edwardian’s own creative design team, engineering firm Arup, interior designers Yabu Pushelberg and construction / PMs Blue Sky Building to achieve something truly unique.
Television Centre
Television Centre (TVC) was the first purpose built television studio in the country and has been radically reinvented under a site wide masterplan regeneration as a new, fully mixed use development, which is now open to the public for the very first time. The original building was conceived in a question mark form. Central to the plan was the main ‘doughnut’, a circular building which at the upper floors, held the office functions for the Television Centre and at the lower levels, the dressing rooms. Central to this ring sat the Helios Courtyard, at the heart of which was the Helios sculpture surrounded by a water feature held within a cast concrete bowl. Radiating out from this ‘doughnut’ sat the functional spaces supporting the studio activities and the eight studios themselves. Where the site was previously inaccessible to the public, it is now fully permeable and connected to the surrounding area. A wide range of uses has been incorporated into the masterplan to ensure its ongoing success as a new and vibrant destination to work, live and play. In 2011, the team won the bid to purchase the site and to work with the BBC and London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) to re-imagine the distinctive buildings and question mark plan diagram in preparation for the BBC to vacate the site in 2013. Focal to the vision for the project is the preservation and celebration of the original listed features, including the circular mosaic lined Helios Courtyard, complete with the golden Helios sculpture and water feature at its heart, and the original Stage Door, now principal entrance to the residential apartments, which houses the refurbished vibrant John Piper mural. The project also champions British design by working with a range of architectural practices, both up-and-coming and well-established, to design the buildings and some interior spaces across the masterplan. The building surrounding the Helios Courtyard has been sensitively adapted and extended to accommodate commercial uses at ground floor. Above are 162 dwellings of different characters, and a 47-bedroom hotel, whilst below at basement level sits an extensive gym and pool accessible to the residents and visitors alike. This circular building is wrapped with a curved planted residential courtyard, providing a communal space and buffer to the Crescent Building, which is conceived as a terrace of five mansion blocks, accommodating further dwellings. The Crescent Building celebrates its aspect onto Hammersmith Park, with generous projecting balconies and sliding doors which bring the outside in. The question mark diagram form is completed with a dramatic nine-storey building which accommodates an exciting range of uses, including restaurants and cafes, a three-screen cinema and a club complete with roof-top pool. Many of the key important spaces have been retained and enhanced, with their finishes brought back to their original glory. The materials employed across the new elements take their cue and are inspired by the original building and the era in which it was constructed. For example, the choice of brick responds to the original retained elements; the bespoke tiles used internally refer to the graphic design of the 50s and 60s and the mosaic finishes across the site, as well as the design of the metal work, which reference the retained south stair. The development brings this iconic site back to life and creates a new identity for Television Centre (TVC) as a centre for creativity, a public space and a special place to live. By stitching the site back into the local area, TVC accentuates and further promotes LBHF’s ambitions for Wood Lane, and the adjacent neighbourhoods.
50 Fenchurch Street
50 Fenchurch Street, by Eric Parry Architects, has been designed to the highest quality as a mixed-use office development at the centre of the City of London. The project will deliver flexible workspace over thirty-six floors, new public open green spaces at ground and at level 10, and a new accommodation and Livery Hall for The Clothworkers’ Company. The redevelopment will allow capital to be unlocked to help endow The Clothworkers’ Foundation, expanding its philanthropic work whilst providing a modern new hall, fit for future generations of The Clothworkers. The medieval Grade I listed Tower of All Hallows Staining will be restored as the focal point of the new landscaped public realm, designed with Bradley Hole-Schoenaich Landscape Architects. The relocation and repurposing of the Lambe’s Chapel Crypt, in a dedicated area below ground, will ensure free public access alongside a new exhibition space and create a new cultural destination within the City. Free public access will be provided to both the roof garden and south-facing double height winter garden. The extensive roof’s terrace and promenade will provide a 360-degree experience. The winter garden will ensure the use of the Level 10 terrace throughout the year. 50 Fenchurch Street will provide over 62,000 sq m of flexible office space arranged around a central core. Floor plates vary in size to maximise the building’s appeal to a range of City occupiers. Extensive vertical landscape planting on the north and south elevations of building and upper floors as well as a level roof terrace offers wider benefits including biodiversity, reduction of urban heat island, temperature regulation, air quality, noise mitigation and health and wellbeing. The proposal is a highly sustainable building targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating, offering best in class energy performance including a highly efficient engineering and façade. The building has the capability to move towards net zero carbon in operation in the future to meet future climate change scenarios.
The Acre
In London, as in many other global cities where aging office buildings and other devalued assets are declining while other buildings climb in value, a fresh approach and thinking are required to revitalise these environments and make them relevant and capable of attracting top tenants and talent. Recognising the unrealised potential of a late 1980s Richard Seifert-designed Brutalist building that was originally a bank, Gensler transformed an inward-looking, closed off building into a modern and sustainable workplace that connects The Acre’s past with its future in the heart of London’s Covent Garden. In deliberately reshaping and reorienting key areas to direct attention towards one of Covent Garden’s most iconic intersections, the design team transformed The Acre’s relationship with its surroundings, inviting people to explore and connect with the space in new ways. Staggered terraces spread across eight floors create distinctive and inviting areas where people can step outside and further enjoy the vibrant neighbourhood. Outside, the concrete façade maintains the building’s robust, original character. With a focus on preservation and carbon reduction, the team retained 80% of the original structure, saving approximately 4,250 tonnes of CO2 and significantly contributing to the building’s BREEAM Outstanding target. By selectively enhancing specific elements rather than overhauling the entire façade, the project also achieved an EPC A (Very Efficient) rating. Gensler unified The Acre’s massing, which expanded the floor space to 260,000 square feet, creating the largest open office floorplates in Covent Garden — ranging in size from 12,000 to 32,000 square feet. As visitors navigate through from each of the two main entrances, they encounter various retail and amenity offerings that culminate in the central Acre Café — a seven-story glazed atrium ‘heart space’ that welcomes the community and the public within the building. With substantial whole-life carbon savings, well-being interventions, natural ventilation, biodiverse terraces, public spaces, and green travel features, The Acre is on track to achieve a 4.5 NABERS UK Star rating, alongside WELL Platinum and Fitwel 3 Star aspirations — the highest levels on the leading international frameworks for health and well-being in buildings. The Acre embraces the character of its past, enhanced by sustainability and well-being interventions, improved public realm, and a modern lens. It stands as a testament to the project partners’ commitment to creating healthy, positive, and joyful workplaces in the heart of Covent Garden.
One Fen Court
One Fen Court is located at the heart of London’s insurance district. It provides 39,000sqm of space over 16 levels of office and retail. Scaled at the dimensions of a city block, it provides high quality uninterrupted office floor plates of up to 3,000sq.m. At roof level, One Fen Court creates a new publicly accessible space at the heart of The City– a 2,200sqm roof garden. This new garden is a prominent new public resource for the city. The landscape on the roof includes a gently undulating promenade, a 40 metre long water feature and a steel pergola supporting 90 Wisterias. A restaurant is located directly below the garden. Surrounded by a tight network of streets, One Fen Court cannot be viewed in its entirety from any one view at ground level. The specific geometry of the site informed the strong, facetted massing, inflected façades and acutely angled pillars which, correspond with the sweep of Fenchurch Street and its locale. In section the building is conceived in three distinct elements: a two-storey base with its new public passageway and retail frontages, a main body with nine storeys of offices and a glazed ‘crown’ that tapers outward and is marked by horizontal dichroic banding. This last element provides four floors of offices and a restaurant at the 14th floor. The upper levels of the building make use of a closed cavity façade system whereby low pressure air is pumped individually into each triple glazed cladding panel. This system allows for the reduction in depth of a traditional triple glazed system without the need for the introduction of additional onerous solar coating requirements. One Fen Court brings civic presence and an increase in the public realm of the City of London. It also brings colour. The use of Dichroic banding on ‘The Crown’ and two-tone metal finishes to the lower level brise soleil brings an ever changing kinetic colour palette to the building when seen at the grain of the street or the greater canvas of the cityscape. At street level narrow alleyways are part of fabric of the City of London and such an alley crosses the site bringing a level of public porosity to the heart of the site. This heart is marked by a great external room at the scale of the City’s banking halls. The ceiling of the hall is an audio-visual artwork providing visual linkage to the public roof garden. It is conceived of as a ‘camera obscura’ taking both live feed and pre-composed video. A series of films created by artists Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier on this technological canopy enliven the daily commute of the office workers below. The room is an entry point for the public via lifts up to the roof garden. The garden is free to the public and requires no advanced booking. This is the first such of rooftop garden in the City of London. One Fen Court takes its provision of first class commercial office space as a starting point rather than a finishing point of its architectural vision. The building provides high quality working environment for its end user, with expansive well serviced floors. Beyond this though, the building has a civic aspiration. With increasing density and bigger buildings there is a greater and greater need for the integration of public space into buildings. Under such conditions there is a pressing need for the inhabitation of previously under used spaces. The garden at Fen Court provides open access for workers and visitors to the city alike, with stunning views of the cluster of taller towers to the north and the Thames to the south. It is a mid-level landscape built to the full extent of the block on which it sits and which can provide sanctuary from the city’s daily bustle.
English National Ballet
A transformational project for English National Ballet (ENB) who have relocated to this purpose built 93,000 sq ft ‘dance factory’ in East London. The new building significantly expands their accommodation while the design of the building opens up the activities of ENB to the public through the incorporation of large windows onto public spaces and through external performance spaces. Commissioned in 2014, GHA was briefed to design a creative space for making and dancing that will serve as a new focal point for ballet in London. The main challenge was providing the required extensive range of flexible, state-of-the-art facilities on a narrow site and with a comparatively challenging budget. The design team achieved this by creating something that is elegant, pared-back and beautiful, but also hard working; designing the building so that its character is defined by a celebration of exposed raw materials such as concrete ceilings and translucent glass walls. The new dance centre provides world-class studio, medical and production facilities. Alongside seven full-sized rehearsal studios there is dedicated engagement and learning spaces, as well as accommodation for ENB School. New costume workshop facilities enable the company to create and adjust costumes in-house for the very first time. In addition, the building includes offices for over 200 ENB staff. ENB’s new home is part of a cluster of three conjoined buildings positioned alongside Hopewell Square at the centre of London City Island. The ground floor is designed as a lively gathering and circulation space which acts as the soul of the building, with a public café and future exhibition space encouraging interaction between the school and the company. The building also houses a green room, treatment rooms and stretching areas for the company, and spaces for back-of-house specialists such as technicians and set builders to work. The main production studio features a 10m x 16m stage space and a 25m tall fly tower. The other facilities are arranged over three upper levels, and the building is topped with a green roof. Rehearsal studios are typically 15 x 15 x 15m wall-to-wall, and all include an external clear glazed viewing window to help welcome the outside in. Medical facilities including a hydrotherapy pool and ice bath are accommodated on the second floor. The office, education and retail parts of the building have been designed to achieve BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating. The translucent white cladding is a particular design feature, contrasting with the colourful surrounding buildings and allowing passers-by to catch glimpses of the professional dancers as they rehearse. This is achieved using 3,600sq m of Linit, an extra white translucent glass, which provides privacy whilst offering a hint of the dynamic movement of the dancers in the studios. Elsewhere in the building, glass and exposed concrete surfaces give the interiors a distinctive raw and pared-back appearance. The limited material palette and the use of standard, off the shelf, hardworking components has resulted in an incredibly lean and efficient building which allows ENB to grow and thrive long into the future.
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.
Balfron Tower
Strategy Ernö Goldfinger’s 27-storey Balfron Tower in east London had fallen into disrepair and out of favour. But times have changed. It is now Grade II* Listed, and there’s a renewed appreciation of Brutalist buildings like this one. Guided by Goldfinger’s original vision, we’ve worked with developers London and Newcastle, Telford Homes, with Historic England and with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to bring the tower into the twenty-first century. Our approach has been one of ‘constructive conservation’ and of respect for the Brutalist aesthetics. Specificity Landscape and the sense of arrival had degraded over time and needed to be readdressed. The concrete is now set off by rich and wildlife-friendly gardens which reconnect the tower with the surrounding streets and with the A12 that passes close by. As you approach the tower, a beam of light shepherds you safely across the drawbridge, towards the entrance and into the building. To make the entrance lobby a more inviting space, we’ve reconfigured the core, lifts and refuse chutes. This freed up space within the service tower to provide, in a more modern form, the community facilities that Goldfinger once envisaged and to add others. Residents now have access to a cinema room, table-tennis room, yoga room, dining room, library, workshop and gym. They also have access to the roof to grow vegetables and fruit, and to make the most of the impressive views. Every part of the fabric of the building has been brought up to modern standards – for fire prevention, acoustics, waterproofing and thermal insulation – through careful restoration and sympathetic replacement. One of each of the original flat typologies has been reinstated to Goldfinger’s original layout, preserving his original vision for future generations. And, alongside Ab Rogers Design, we’ve re-thought the layout and design of the rest of the internal spaces, both private and communal. Walls have come down to suit the way we live now, and the apartments has been brought fully up to date. Sustainability Our work on Balfron Tower has been an exercise in making the most of the embodied energy of the existing materials and respecting Goldfinger’s legacy. We’ve worked with, not against, what’s already here. This significantly reduces the building’s carbon footprint and will ensure it performs well in the long term. We’ve given residents a more sustainable way of living – in greener, healthier surroundings. But upgrading the tower and rethinking the way it connects with its surroundings isn’t just about embodied energy and running costs. The knock-on effects are social, economic and environmental. By prioritising community spaces and encouraging chance meetings and organised events, we’ve given people reasons to come together and reasons to get to know one another.
NoMad London
NoMad London takes residence inside the historic Grade II listed building famously known as The Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station. A collaboration between Sydell Group, Roman and Williams and EPR Architects, the transformation of the storied 19th century building into the first international outpost for The NoMad Hotel brand draws inspiration from its history and location in Covent Garden and explores the artistic and cultural connection between London and New York. With the former police station vacant since 1997 and the magistrates’ court unused since 2006, the building had fallen into such poor condition that it was added to English Heritage’s Register of Buildings at Risk. Despite many previous attempted developments since its closure, none managed to reimagine the building and its many constraints as a viable project. In 2016, Sydell Group and BTC began looking at the project with EPR. BTC had purchased the building from its previous owners, who had gained consent for a 99-room hotel with two restaurants, a bar and supporting accommodation but, again, weren't able to develop a feasible scheme. Instead of providing 99 bedrooms, the design team opted to reduce the total number of keys to create generous, high-quality spaces, additional suites and allow the lower floors to be opened up, dramatically expanding and enhancing the exquisite food and beverage offerings that would ultimately underwrite the scheme. The new proposals doubled the square footage of the existing building by creating two new basement levels and two new guest room wings which step back in a terrace from the rear boundary line, reducing its footprint as the building gains height to alleviate the lighting impact on nearby residences. EPR’s careful conversion celebrates and reveals much of the building’s original fabric and detailing. Historical plasterwork mouldings were rediscovered, repaired and replicated throughout and the existing sash windows were restored and sensitively updated with secondary glazing. Achieving a BREEAM rating of Very Good, the project has implemented smart energy-saving systems, careful material selection and thermal upgrading. This included introducing a new cavity drainage system enabling the existing basement levels to be reused and restoring the façade to its former glory. The hotel houses 91 bedrooms, a soaring three-storey atrium restaurant and bar and a stunning ballroom events space within the former Magistrates’ Courtroom supported by two private dining rooms and a bar. The reimagined Bow Street Magistrates’ Court is completed by a guests-only library and two further bar venues. In the former police station, a wing of original police cells has been converted into the Bow Street Police Museum — a unique London heritage asset that pays homage to the building’s colourful past. The completed hotel project has saved an important building at risk and in doing so, transformed one of the UK's most infamous addresses into a ground-breaking example of modern luxury hospitality. NoMad London reflects its position in history and re-engages with the local area, becoming a vibrant, key destination in the heart of Covent Garden.
Salisbury Square Development
The City of London Corporation has identified a unique opportunity to create a new legal quarter in the heart of the Square Mile. Eric Parry Architects won an international design competition and in 2019 and were commissioned to design a world leading ‘Centre for Justice’ in the heart of the historic centre of London. This civic project incorporates a new ‘State of the Art’ Policing headquarters for City of London Police, a new flagship 18 courtroom legal facility for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and a new office building which represents ‘the office of the future’, capable of providing contemporary post COVID office space for leading law firms. This new court facility will specialise in white collar crimes and is the first building to incorporate the ‘Court of the Future’ design guide to provide ‘state of the art’ digital evidence capabilities for cybercrime and fraud trials. The Police headquarters reinvents the identity of a policing facility as an open, community building, filled with natural light, transparency, and connection, which is in stark contrast to defensive policing facilities of old. This thoroughly modern facility is equipped with the latest technology to become the national centre to combat fraud and economic crime across the entire UK. The existing listed building will be repurposed to become a new public house. The square, dating back to the 16th Century, will be enlarged and have its civic identity restored, with new connections east and west creating new urban vistas to the adjacent historic fabric. The placement of buildings and introduction of new routes has been inspired by the plan of the ancient city, with narrow passageways and spaces encouraging conversation and the exchange of information. We have prioritised the continuation of this tradition and integrated it into a modern development as a vital part of civic life. This proposal is not a campus, but rather a ensemble of buildings of distinct yet coherent designs. Each building will have its own identity to reflect the different uses yet work together to create a sense of whole. Materials have been carefully selected to respond to the location of each building within the masterplan, and the wider area, as well as their specific functional requirements. Built to last, this project sets a benchmark for contemporary sustainable design. The buildings are designed to last for a minimum of 125 years, triple that of contemporary constructions. Zero net carbon in operation, a shared energy centre incorporates a highly efficient ground source heating and cooling system. The thermal piles will plunge in excess of 250m into the earth. The basement plant room strategy has liberated the roofs of all buildings to become urban gardens. These high-quality gardens act as green lungs to the city and contemplative meditation spaces for the police and judiciary to aid mental wellbeing and a respite from these high stress professions.
8 Bishopsgate
8 Bishopsgate is a distinctive addition to the City of London's skyline. The building is characterised by its attention to detail, holistic approach to sustainability and rigorous integration of structure and services into the overarching architectural vision. The site is located within the City of London cluster, moderated by the constraints of the London View Management Framework and a local view from Fleet Street, where the new building could not impinge into the ‘skyspace’ around the dome of St Paul’s. In response, a stepped profile successfully satisfied the requirements and broke down the overall scale and mass of the building into a legible form. The three blocks are differentiated by scale, material and structural requirements. The building’s stepped form is accentuated by terraces and cantilevers that contribute to a cohesive and visually dynamic composition. 8 Bishopsgate is a structurally light tower, accomplished in part by the utilisation of materials. The steel-braced box in the building's core played a significant role by allowing cantilevers on the west façade, effectively creating additional space while circumventing the need for transfers. This had a minimal impact on steel tonnage and associated carbon. Steel sections throughout were calculated to be no larger than required by their individual loads. Rationalising the building’s frame has reduced the amount of steel by 25% against a typical tower of similar size. The innovative double-skin closed cavity façade prioritises energy efficiency with high thermal performance. The building envelope and façade performance were optimised to provide thermal comfort, which delivers energy savings and provides a greater level of daylight internally. Adaptive shading that responds to the weather conditions reduces the total building cooling demand by a further 530kW (5%). Building users have access to a range of amenities (approximately 10% of the building area) including the ground floor public café, upper floor mezzanine café with lounges and break-out workspaces, and a flexible flat floor gathering space that can revert to a 200-seat auditorium with retractable seating. The Lookout is an admission-free public viewing gallery at the top of the building with uninterrupted views of many City landmarks. The UN sustainable development goals have been at the heart of project decision-making, resulting in a tower that demonstrates holistic sustainability, balanced with occupant health, wellbeing and operational needs. This user-centric building has been designed to enhance health and wellbeing, offering adaptability through smart building systems, flexible HVAC design and a wide range of tenant amenities. Cycle facilities cater for nearly 1,000 bikes including generous provisions for showers, lockers and maintenance. The tower is understood to be the most sustainable speculative tall commercial scheme in the UK, accomplished in part by the optimisation of materials and structure, adaptive façade and innovative building services. Embodied carbon was calculated following the RICS professional statement methodology and at each design stage to identify opportunities for reduction.
Seven Dials Market
The scheme was designed to respond to both the historic built fabric and the more modern architectural additions of a former banana warehouse in London’s historic Covent Garden. It is this inherited, adapted and celebrated and found approach that all of London's best food and cultural locations have and something that was central to Seven Dials Market. The original brick vaults, the building’s collection of cast iron and steel columns and the mixed and scattered floor finishes and levels form a tapestry into which new, modern additions were placed. Bespoke cast terrazzo counters sit on original pitch pine floorboards. New crisp Douglas fir balustrading hangs from the existing rough cut concrete slab edge. The design made use of natural timber, plywood and strawboard (for the acoustic linings) with simple cast counters to create modern kitchens and cafes as insertions within the context of the listed building. The modern insertions have been carefully designed to conceal the complex services required for multiple kitchens and uses and to reveal to the full the impressive listed warehouse. Cucumber Alley reinstates a bustling public colonnade between Earlham Street and Short Gardens, now enlivened with fresh produce, flowers, bakery and cheese. A new performing arts stage sits at the centre of the main dining atrium. The design incorporates a Rothenburg water disposal system so that all wet waste is stored on site in a large stainless steel tank. It is pumped out every four weeks to be taken to an anaerobic digester to be turned in to electricity reducing smells and contributing to the green electricity. The client, KERB, has extended their operation to include a training facility to mentor new chefs by providing training on how to set up, operate and run a market stall. This is part of what KERB term their ‘incubator ‘ seeing this as a way of getting young entrepreneurs started without having to invest a huge amount of money or take on too much risk at the start of their careers. The scheme has reintroduced food back into the warehouse that was once a storage facility serving the original Covent Garden Market. Open from 8.00am to 23.00 the building is now accessible for 15 hours of the day and 364 days of the year providing a large new venue to eat drink and wander.
458 Oxford Street
At a time when other department stores are contracting or closing on the ‘nation’s high-street’, M&S have sponsored the only retail-led major regeneration on Oxford Street. The new M&S flagship store will create an exemplary retail environment, securing their long-term future at this pivotal location adjacent to Selfridges. But the scheme delivers much more than this, serving to transform the quality of the public ream and creating workspace to the highest standards of sustainability and wellbeing. The project thus supports Oxford Street’s evolution into a resurgent mixed-use destination to a quality appropriate to this iconic location. The new building will be the most sustainable speculative office in the Oxford Street District’s North West Quarter, integrating innovative energy saving measures with new generation sensor technology to deliver energy efficiency and occupant comfort. The design delivers of the first large-scale multi-tenant office development in Westminster to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Platinum certifications. A hybrid superstructure, marrying post-tensioned concrete and structural timber, delivers an A1-A5 embodied carbon rate below 585kgCo2e/m2 GIA. We are researching reusing concrete from the existing building in compressive vaults to go further and deliver sub-500kgCo2e/m2. Each design decision has been considered to minimise carbon in construction and operation. A high-performance recycled masonry and metalwork façade is designed in response to orientation with individually optimised external brise soleil serving to passively moderate the internal environment. The palette of Portland Stone (recycled from the existing building), flush-pointed white Roman brick and bronze finished brise soleil directly relate to the adjacent Grade II* Listed Selfridges. A sixth floor timber cornice which caps the street façade, celebrates the integration of structural timber within the building. The building delivers a step-change in the quality of the public realm, with new permeability and an additional 1,000sqm of high-quality landscaped public space in this busy urban context. An east-west pedestrian connection across the site restores permeability lost in the 1970s. This link, from a new garden on Granville Place to Orchard Street, will extend through Selfridges to connect to St Christopher’s Place. The new garden on Granville Place and new street trees on Oxford and Orchard Street makes a valuable contribution to the Oxford Street District strategic greenways. Allied to generous greenery to upper levels, these ambitious landscaping proposals deliver enhanced biodiversity across the entire site. The landscape and public realm proposals will act as a catalyst for wider regeneration of the district and a gateway to the Portman Estate.
Space House
The iconic Grade II-listed Space House in Camden, London is being sensitively refurbished and extended to create 255,000sqft of high-quality workspace with ground floor flexible retail space and improved public realm. The revitalisation of the landmark will preserve and enhance it, allowing people to work and socialise in and around outstanding 20th century architecture. Completed in 1968, Space House was designed by Richard Seifert and Partners and is known for its innovative architecture, comprising a distinctive 15-storey cylindrical tower, eight-storey block and connecting bridge with a striking precast concrete façade. Previously occupied by the Civil Aviation Authority, the building was refurbished in 1996 and 2003. Proposals remove the layers of subsequent interventions to retain, expose and celebrate the original architecture and create complementary interventions to accommodate modern working environments. Proposals reimagine the existing building and add two floors of office accommodation to the tower and a single-storey extension to the block. The new, set-back top floor of the tower will create a 3,600sqft terrace, and the extension to the block will provide communal meeting rooms, bar and 5,000sqft terrace. Built in the era of the car, the building’s car-centric elements will be reinvented for the future. One of three ramps to the basement will be retained to provide dedicated cycle access to end of journey facilities. The existing car-park will provide expansive cycle storage for over 500 bikes alongside 65 showers and changing facilities. Elsewhere, a void will be punctured through the two-storey basement to provide a 16,500sqft double-height event space. Occupants will be welcomed by a double-height reception at the base of the tower. Its 10,000sqft circular, column-free floorplates will be flooded with natural light, providing 360-degree views. A beautiful, intimate lobby in the block grants access to eight floors of 8,000sqft office floorplates. Levels one to three are connected by the sky bridge to create large contiguous floors and a third-floor garden terrace. The egalitarian workspaces feature long sightlines, offering high levels of visual connectivity to support collaborative working. The loft-style offices feature polished concrete floors and new terrazzo flooring will be installed throughout common areas, with original mosaic tiling in the stair cores retained. Space House will be the first listed building in London to achieve BREEAM ‘Outstanding’. The deep articulation of the existing façade provides passive shading, and dilapidated parts of the envelope will be replaced to increase performance to modern standards. A new, high performing services installation will utilise air source heat pumps, and heating/cooling will be provided by bespoke chilled beams – designed to fit seamlessly within the existing radial ceiling coffers. Space House will provide a highly-connected and diverse digital platform for its occupiers, with FitWel and Wired Score Platinum accreditation. The existing public realm, previously a private car-park, will be enhanced to provide links between the retail uses of the buildings. An existing petrol station canopy at the base of the tower will be enclosed to create The Filling Station restaurant, activating the street level and opening it up to public use.
West Grove North
West Grove North, the second phase of Lendlease’s Elephant Park regeneration, is located on the junction of Walworth Road and Heygate Street in Elephant & Castle. Consisting of three buildings, the project contains 367 homes with a mix of different tenures, linked by a raised residential garden, with residential amenity and significant active frontage at ground floor. The main aim of the project brief was to re-connect the Walworth Road high street to the transport hub of Elephant and Castle with a high quality residential and retail offer, including a new affordable independent retail street parallel to Walworth Road. The Levy & Weymouth Building is a ten-storey mansion block containing homes of market and intermediate tenure. The building restores the first half of Sayer Street, a historic street in Elephant and Castle, a new local high street. The building has a distinctive terraced form, creating the feel of a traditional London street with expressive gables at either end of Sayer Street. The building is formed of a red brick grid with playfully arranged glazed terracotta infills, the colours gradate from buff to dark red, inspired by the local architectural materials. Sandow House, a ten-storey corner building on the prominent urban junction of Heygate Street and Walworth Road, has a 45 degrees chamfer to each corner, a move influenced by the desire to retain existing trees. It is clad in black brick with a mixture of rough and smooth facings arranged in a honeycomb pattern. Recessed brick adjacent to the windows alternate to create a woven effect to the facade. Sandow House is an affordable rented tenure building containing 44 homes, many of which are large three bed wheelchair accessible homes. Located on Walworth Road, the tower plays a key role as the tallest building on the masterplan, marking the entrance to Elephant Park. The plan is cruciform in shape delivering 100% dual aspect homes. The facade is constructed from unitised panels manufactured off-site and features deep fins of anodised aluminium creating an overall framework within which sit triangular profiled bronze panels. Horizontal bands are created at intermittent floors using the Fibonacci sequence to increase the horizontal density towards the base and extend the vertical rhythm towards the top of the tower. At the top of the building, the accommodation pulls away from the facade creating an open frame and pergola and a light crown. A lobby containing residential amenity space sits between Hurlock Heights and the Weymouth Building, including a 24-hour concierge, lounge, café and screening room with links to the garden space. Visible from the street, the entrance is enhanced by an artwork by Morag Myersough, produced by repurposing the timber felled as part of the development. Outline Planning consent for the Elephant Park masterplan was granted in 2013, and Reserved Matters approval for this second residential phase was secured in December 2014. The project was procured through a Design and Build contract and work began on site in February 2016 and was completed in August 2019.
Soho Place
Soho Place is an enormous urban jigsaw that builds on the arrival of Crossrail to bolster the large-scale regeneration of Oxford Street’s eastern end. Two new mixed-use buildings frame a new civic plaza, Soho Place, the first new street name in Soho for 72 years. It is the latest iteration of a long-term research initiative between AHMM and Derwent London. The north building, No. 1 Soho Place, is a landmark ten-storey, two tier building above Tottenham Court Road station on Europe’s busiest shopping street. It houses 33,000 square feet of retail space across three storeys (ground, basement and first floors) known as No.1 Oxford Street, and 191,000 square feet of office accommodation across nine storeys. The offices are designed to meet BREEAM Outstanding and provide external space on every full office floor. The south building, No. 2/4 Soho Place, is a nine-storey building of two parts. The lower volume contains the first new-build West End theatre to open in 50 years, inspired by Nica Burns’ visit to Epidaurus when she was young with constellations in midnight blue interiors wrapped with backlit marble and edged in royal gold-coloured metalwork. Above the theatre lies 18,000 square feet of independent office space with superb views across London, known as Soho Skygardens and fitted out to designs by AHMM. The office floors are largely column free and every floor benefits from a generous external terrace. The floors are accessed by a vertical ‘superlift’, conceived as a vertically moving room with warehouse style doors.
Centre Point Tower
Centre Point Tower was designed by George Marsh, Richard Seifert’s partner, in the 1960s, its modern materiality and imposing height represented a new generation of Londoners and the creative energy of the time. Despite being given Grade II listed building status in the mid-1990s, the 34-storey office tower was left neglected and largely unoccupied. In 2010 Almacantar commissioned Conran and Partners to restore the tower, and repurpose it to ensure its viability for future generations. It was established that converting the tower to residential use would unlock the wider regeneration of site. Mica Architects were concurrently enlisted to develop the surrounding ‘lateral’ buildings completing the Centre Point composition, transform the wider public realm to regenerate the area where Tottenham Court Road meets Oxford Street. This work is currently being completed. As part of this repurposing, Conran and Partners has fundamentally but discretely redesigned the way in which the tower meets the ground and engages with the sky. Centre Point Tower was originally designed around vehicle - rather than people - access, so there was a need to create a clearly defined and accessible entrance at ground level. Most noticeably relocating the heroic external staircases inside the building creates approaches that are simpler, and more welcoming, as well to provide breathing space between the cross rail station entrances. At the same time plant has also been relocated from the top of the building to the basement to allow for the creation of a dramatic duplex apartment (currently being styled by others). The apartment now features double-height spaces and an encircling balcony which allows for continuous 360 degree views over the city. The external signage at this level was added at a later date it became part of the iconography, however, Conran and Partners have redesigned it to look consistent from the street level but, through the use of mesh, is now largely transparent from within the apartment. The design approach has been to reconnect the spirit of the 1960’s with the present day and link the building’s restored expressive structure with the transformed internal spaces. Once described by Eduardo Paolozzi as London’s first Pop Art building, we sought to retain and restore Centre Point’s striking pre-cast concrete exo-skeleton, re-establishing its relevance in London’s cultural heart. The glazed envelope has been entirely replaced and on the typical floors follows the original pattern but to modern environmental and acoustic standards, and with discrete amendments to improve visibility from inside (actually in line with an original concept watercolour) and to allow residents to open the top lights. The new envelope on the ground and top floors follow this spirit but is intended to remain subservient. Standing confidently in the skyline, the graphic strength of the building’s pre-cast concrete structure creates theatre and expressiveness. The interior design, also by Conran and Partners, has therefore been influenced by the substance and rhythm of the elevations whilst a transition from shadow to light informs the journey for visitors moving through the building. The proportions of the floor plates, circa 16m at its widest and circa 30m between cores, whilst inefficient for modern high rise office use, lend themselves very effectively to residential use. The serving spaces (wcs, Kitchens, bathrooms etc) and height greedy services are all concentrated along the spine of the building. This allows the habitable spaces to simply run parallel with the generous glazing and therefore making best use of the natural light and spectacular views. Within the apartments the finishes palette is also intended to appear effortless and work with the spirit of the building. We have concentrated on a few simple but high quality materials that not only will patinate gracefully over time, but will easily accept the residents own choices of furnishings and decoration. We have, nevertheless, been able to add moments of interest through bespoke ironmongery and graphic tiling, but even these are designed to work with the spirit of the building rather than against it. The common areas on the other hand allow the use of more dramatic materiality. For instance the entrance hall graphically expresses the tone of the building, but with further theatre generated by collaborating with artist such as Cerith Wyn Evans to occupy the space. Blending our experience in the hospitality and residential sectors, we have responded to the needs of modern residents by creating a selection of one to four bedroom apartments supported by world class amenity spaces. A dramatic and naturally lit 30-metre swimming pool and gym, luxury spa and club lounge, located on the equivalent of the second and third floors allow residents to balance a frenetic urban lifestyle with an opportunity to detoxify, relax and recharge in the heart of London. Working with the original structure, the pool is positioned along the full length of the western façade to emphasise the 30-metre long curved façade whilst the bather can enjoy the unusual experience of swimming above and in parallel to Charing Cross Road. Our aim has been to work with the spirit of the architecture and successfully reinvent the iconic building from a struggling, outmoded office tower into a vibrant residential building that responds to the changing requirements of twenty-first century London. Allied with the work undertaken by Mica Architects, the pending opening of the Tottenham Court Road cross rail station and the adjacent works to the south and west of the building, this project materially unblocks this key location at the heart of our city.
Paddington Square
Paddington Square is a new mixed-use development adjacent to Paddington Station. The project includes a transparent, cube-shaped building, a public square, and a larger entrance and ticket hall for the Bakerloo Line. At its core is a 5,450 sqm public piazza, improving pedestrian flow and access to both underground and overground transport links. This new public space is enriched by contemporary public art, enhancing the experience for visitors and commuters alike. The 40,000 sqm development comprises 32,500 sqm of Grade-A office space, alongside 33 retail units, restaurants, and cafés. It has already attracted a diverse mix of businesses, reinforcing Paddington’s role as a growing employment and cultural hub. By repositioning London Street, the scheme creates a more open and welcoming approach to Brunel’s historic Paddington Station, drawing visual and spatial connections between the past and present. A major component of the project is the new step-free entrance and expanded ticket hall for the Bakerloo Line, significantly improving accessibility and passenger experience. The public realm integrates seamlessly with the station, forming a natural extension of its concourse. The piazza provides a generous outdoor gathering space, animated by large-scale public artworks from internationally recognized artists, including Ugo Rondinone, Pae White, Catherine Yass, and The Showroom with Kathrin Böhm. These commissions contribute to a dynamic and evolving urban environment. In addition to retail and public facilities, the development includes panoramic lifts leading to a rooftop restaurant and bar, set to open in 2025. This elevated space offers wide-reaching views over London, including Hyde Park and the surrounding cityscape. The design of Paddington Square prioritizes environmental performance and long-term adaptability. The building features a double-skin façade with external shading and an integrated automated system, reducing solar heat gain while optimizing natural daylight. This contributes to improved energy efficiency and occupant comfort. The structure has achieved an EPC A rating and a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ certification, demonstrating high standards in sustainability. Energy consumption is further reduced through the use of a rooftop 630 sqm photovoltaic array, with all residual electricity demand met through renewable sources. The design incorporates real-time energy and environmental monitoring systems, ensuring ongoing optimization of performance. Materials and construction methods were chosen with sustainability in mind, incorporating circular economy principles. The project also delivered significant social value, generating over £52.6 million through employment and training initiatives, including more than 200 apprenticeships and NVQs. Paddington Square reflects an approach that balances commercial development with public benefit. By introducing new transport connections, expanding public space, and incorporating cultural elements, the project enhances both the immediate site and the wider Paddington area. The design seeks to create a welcoming and functional environment, integrating modern architectural elements with the historic fabric of one of London’s key transport hubs.
20 Giltspur Street
This 120,000 sq ft commercial refurbishment in the City of London demonstrates exceptional innovation in overcoming significant urban constraints while prioritising sustainability. Originally connected to the Bank of America Building but since separated, the project faced a challenging brief: maximise potential while minimising environmental impact, despite being unable to expand upwards (St Paul's Cathedral sight lines), downwards (monument and Post Office Railway), or outwards (adjacent bank, public thoroughfares and roadways). The solution came through an ingenious "floors up" engineering approach, where existing trading floors were jacked up in situ, enabling the conversion of two existing floors into three new levels constructed from cross-laminated timber. This intervention delivered remarkable spatial efficiency—achieving a 30% increase in gross area and 41% increase in net usable area within the existing envelope. Sustainability sits at the heart of the design. By preserving 80% of the original steel structure rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the team dramatically reduced material consumption and construction waste, achieving an outstanding structural embodied carbon performance of just 89kgCO2/m2. The façade strategy retains as much existing cladding as possible, with necessary replacements designed for optimal thermal performance. Urban greening features prominently throughout, with green and blue roofs, façade planting, and landscaped terraces at the fifth and sixth floors enhancing biodiversity and occupant wellbeing. The roof plant has been consolidated to create valuable new office space offering unique views towards St Paul's Cathedral. The scheme celebrates its historic context by integrating and improving public access to a preserved section of the London Wall. A welcoming double-height reception and comprehensive end-of-trip facilities support modern workplace expectations, while office spaces are delivered to shell-and-core standard to prevent wasteful abortive fit-out cycles. Through thoughtful circular economy principles, including the reuse of raised access flooring from the original building, 20 Giltspur Street sets a new benchmark for commercial refurbishment in constrained urban sites. It demonstrates how innovative engineering can unlock substantial additional value whilst prioritising sustainability, breathing new life into an existing asset rather than starting anew.
Paddington Elizabeth Line station
Originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Digby Wyatt, Paddington is Grade I listed and an icon of Victorian engineering – setting the bar high for its new Elizabeth Line addition by Weston Williamson + Partners Weston Williamson + Partners’ Elizabeth Line station is the culmination of over ten years’ work by the practice at the station, transforming the passenger experience, In 2012 Weston Williamson + Partners had used the future arrival of the Elizabeth Line as a catalyst for moving taxis to the north of the station alongside a new underground station, thereby opening up new connections and improving pedestrian and traffic flow to and through the station. Today, Paddington has a highly visible and navigable main entrance for the first time, with the Elizabeth Line entrance extending alongside Eastbourne Terrace beneath a 2,300 sq.m glazed roof. From a 300 metre long new public plaza, lifts and escalators take passengers onto the station concourse and platforms below, or into the mainline station through a series of new entrance portals. At street level, a pair of sculptural ventilation shaft enclosures, clad with tapering cast stone fins and crowned with glass canopies, help to frame the station entrance, and hint at the grandeur beneath. The design and delivery of Paddington required extensive deep excavations and complex engineering immediately adjacent to Brunel’s historic station in a busy part of central London. The result is as impressive as its construction and, descending to the concourse, the epic scale of the new Elizabeth Line station is revealed. The station features a 90-metre clear opening – a unique feature for urban underground station design – harnessing space, scale and light to match the grandeur of Brunel’s original station, and creating an uplifting and carefully-detailed space intended to claim its own legacy. Weston Williamson + Partners harnessed the box station construction technique to bring daylight and natural ventilation deep into the station: uniquely on the Elizabeth Line’s new central section it is possible to stand on the station platforms and look directly up to street level. Its robust engineering is celebrated – for instance in eight gigantic flared elliptical columns, clad in bronze to head height, which carry the weight of the structure above. There are careful details too – such as the tall hit-and-miss brick flank wall (which also has an acoustic function), the elegant stone paving to the entrance plaza, and beautiful anodised ‘lily pad’ light fittings set within saucer-like concrete ceiling coffers above the grand ticket hall. The station is constructed on the same rigorous 10 foot imperial grid as Brunel’s station, and references to this – for instance in the floor tiling and colonnades – are there to be found. The materials, comprising brick, concrete, stone and bronze are earthy and warm, reflecting the palette of the original station and with a nod to the classic underground stations by Holden and others. All services are cleverly tucked away out of sight towards the top of the station box, and ample provision.
One Bishopsgate Plaza
One Bishopsgate Plaza is the first high-rise residential and hospitality development built in the City in recent years and stands as a bold commitment to the continued vitality of the area. The site includes a new 43-storey tower to house the hotel and residential uses along with a refurbished and extended Victorian building lining Devonshire Row that incorporates restaurant, office and retail space. The retail units open directly onto both the street and the new public space. The development is situated on a unique site between the bustle of the city and the vibrant residential neighbourhoods around Spitalfields and Petticoat Lane Market to the east. It acts as a mediator between these contrasting districts, establishing new routes to and through the site for local inhabitants and visitors alike. The welcoming and accessible environment established by a new plaza – the largest along Bishopsgate – has created a lively public realm that helps to draw people in, contributing to the city’s ambitions to become a 24-hour destination whilst capitalising on increased foot traffic associated with the Post-COVID return to offices and the new Crossrail station that will open next year. The five-star Pan Pacific London hotel is located on the tower’s lower floors and offers 237 luxurious guestrooms with interior design by the noted practice, Yabu Pushelberg. Above this, 160 Sky Residences feature open, flexible layouts and full height glazing affording dramatic views over the surrounding area. A range of public and private amenities are incorporated across the site, including the subterranean Pacific Ballroom nestled below the plaza, a dedicated Wellbeing Floor, a gymnasium, and cafes and restaurant facilities for guests and residents. The tower is designed to reflect the quality and ambitions of the overall development, with extensive glazing incorporating bronze louvred screens in varying configurations that provide aesthetic differentiation and architectural sophistication to the overall form. The building steps back as it rises, accommodating terraces and other amenity spaces and lending visual contrast to the more solid and blocky forms of nearby towers. The 144-year-old Devonshire House has been thoughtfully reconsidered and expanded, with shops, a restaurant and a cocktail bar -tucked below a dramatic scale-like curved aluminium and glass free-spanning roof. A portion of the building has been meticulously replicated utilising the original materials and construction methodology to match the existing building, and a listed façade has been repaired and reintegrated using traditional craftsmen and techniques. One Bishopsgate Plaza works holistically to embrace the City of London’s goals of becoming a more inclusive place for meeting, living, working and exploring. It stands as a bold new step for visiting and living in the City and supports its future growth as a global centre for international business and leisure. Key Team Members: PLP Architecture (Architect); Yabu Pushelburg (Interior Design, Hotel); MSMR (Interior Design, Sky Residences); WSP (Fire, MEP, Structural Engineer); Donald Insall Associates (Historic Buildings Consultant); Eppag (Façade Consultant); Inverse (Lighting); Alinea Consulting (Quantity Surveyor); DP9 (Planning Consultant).
The Post Building
The Post Building is an office led mixed use building in central London that reconfigures and extends the existing structural frame of the WC1 Royal Mail Sorting and Delivery Office. Through careful adaptation of the existing structure, a central London city block that has lain derelict for over 20 years has been brought back to life, providing space for 3000 new jobs over 11 floors of Grade A office space and 21 new affordable homes, above a new active retail ground floor. The development also makes a significant contribution to the public realm with pavement and junction improvements to all elevations, the reactivation of the 18th century Dunn’s Passage, and a publicly accessible roof terrace. The lower half of the existing, generously-scaled structural frame has been retained and reimagined as large volume office floor plates. A new circulation core and mezzanine levels have been inserted into the centre of the existing deep plan. The building’s top half has been replaced and remodelled to create a focal corner at the intersection of five key London roads. The new floorplates in the upper half of the building echo those within the original structure below, while the top floor provides a double height penthouse office reflecting the volume of the former mail sorting spaces at lower levels. Internally, deep steel and concrete beams – the result of the large structural spans from the building’s former use – are left exposed, lending an industrial character to the new office floors. The new structure is delicately spliced into the existing frame demonstrating the flexibility of London’s building stock by adaptation to new uses. The 3.5 x 4.5m openings within the new facade express the scale of the double height spaces inside, framing views of the complex play between structure and services on the retained soffits. The expressive junction and connection between the self-finished steel components of the cladding system give a richness of detail echoing the mail sorting infrastructure that used to occupy the building and can still be found in the dormant Mail Rail station below. The residential facade applies a more domestic scale and finish to the language of frame and infill established by the office facades. Roach Bed Portland stone is used to infill the bays and establish a dialogue between the metal clad architecture of the office and the materials of the neighbouring conservation areas. Meticulous site logistics and engineering precision were required to deliver the meeting of old and new throughout the building’s interior. Careful and transparent stakeholder dialogue at all stages alongside a strong engineering focus from the Main Contractor in delivery resulted in a building that elegantly responds to the constraints and opportunities of a unique site.
40 Holborn Viaduct
40 Holborn Viaduct - ‘A Green Gateway to The City’ This is not a new building. We are working with The City to deliver an exemplary sustainable retrofit, retaining approximately 70% of the original embodied Carbon and delivering 17, 050 m2 of fully decarbonised, Class A contemporary workspace. Three new extension levels have been added to the eight-story office building with new balcony extensions to the southwest elevation. Our proposal responds to its prominent triangular site by creating a green gateway building for the City of London. It is a modern version of the historic gateways into Roman London. The main road into London from the west of England bifurcates at this point, north to the new The City of London cultural quarter including the new London Museum and Smithfield Market and south over Holborn Viaduct, a marvel of Victorian 19th Century engineering, to St Pauls Cathedral and the historic City Mile. The area is changing and becoming an attractive, vibrant hub of commerce and culture in the City of London, anchoring the convergence of four City Business Improvement Districts (BIDS). The heavily defensive stone envelope of the existing building will be replaced by an open animated façades with balconies and seasonally varied planting onto Holborn Circus and Holborn Viaduct. The mined façade stone is recycled as terrazzo in the proposals. A transparent base opens onto social activities within the building (café, reception, amenities, auditorium) animating the public realm. Well-being is prioritised with seasonally changing planting to all areas including terraces, a pergola, a sky lobby, a green roof and the publicly accessible pocket garden. New amenities include shared workspaces, terraces to every floor, a panoramic sky lobby and activity terrace, an events space, cafes, fitness and wellness suites and, best in class end of journey facilities for cyclists and other users. The pocket garden creates an animated buffer and spill out area for a ground floor café with spaces for public seating and assembly. Planting provides colour, interest, and shade and a 100% increase in Urban Greening (diversity) for the site. A rain garden helps control water run off rates. Grey water is used for irrigating the ribbon planting. The main body of the building is characterised by terraces and balconies with planted ribbons faced with innovatively crafted black vitreous enamel. The ribbons run all round the building establishing a unified identity from all aspects. Indents to the planter ribbons reflect where structural columns or hangers connect, providing subtle variations reflecting context, aspect, and use. A pergola creates a double height cornice structure with horizontal blossom enhancing buildings gateway appearance. Three new extension levels create stepped terraces, a sky lobby and a sky terrace with panoramic views for use by tenants. The roof provides plant areas and a maintenance access BMU serving facades and planters. This proposal will deliver a sensitive repositioning, a Carbon reset of a failing asset, so critical for this special location.
The Fitzrovia
An expressive, celadon-clad office on Tottenham Court Road, positioned for Crossrail commuters Located at the point where the more contemporary development on Tottenham Court Road gives way to older Victorian and Edwardian stock, The Fitzrovia also mitigates between large-scale retail architecture and the historic, lower-rise buildings around Bedford Square. Replacing an unsalvageable 1960s building, it sandwiches BREEAM Outstanding offices suited to creative and media tenants between ground-floor shops and 9 new homes. The heavily modulated civic front is clad in celadon-glazed terracotta on a basalt base, the rear in more domestic brick. The building will house 60,000 sqft of offices, 9 residential units and retail at ground floor. And has been designed to accommodate alternative uses in the future and eventually dis-assembly and repurposing. Biodiverse terraces at high level offer amenity for the building users. All residential units are dual aspect with private terraces, and the offices enjoy generous fenestration which allows good quality daylight and natural ventilation.
150 Holborn
150 Holborn unites London-based members of the Sidara Collaborative—Dar, Perkins&Will, Portland Design, Currie & Brown, Introba, Maffeis Engineering, and Penspen—under one roof. This state-of-the-art workplace accommodates over 1,000 staff who are committed to advancing ecological health and well-being through design and engineering. The building fosters collaboration and the exchange of ideas between the firms, while ensuring each firm retains its unique identity. Our design of 150 Holborn is modern, yet responsive to its historical context. It’s both environmentally responsible and inspirational, encouraging curiosity, and providing a sense of community. It’s a place that instils a sense of pride and belonging—bringing together creative minds to help solve some of the world’s most complex design challenges. Located in the thriving Midtown area of London, the building maintains views of St. Paul’s Cathedral and respects its context through visual continuity. 150 Holborn replaces a 1980s office block. Though the existing building was removed, we conducted a pre-demolition audit to determine which materials could be reused on site, and which could be taken off site and recycled. Our demolition report showed that 97% of potential waste was reused or recycled. The main lobby combines reception with a public café, serving as a window to the companies’ brands and ethos. Interactivity and knowledge-sharing are promoted throughout. The central atrium is linked by four glass lifts and a shared grand staircase. We designed this staircase to promote chance meetings and discussion between the member firms. Additionally, individuals and teams are empowered to choose where and how they work, with a variety of spaces and social settings throughout the building. 150 Holborn is a “living lab”. A digital twin of the building measures staff well-being, operational efficiency, and asset performance, allowing us to continuously optimise environmental performance and occupant comfort. This is the first-time intelligent building technology has been collected in such a way, and for these purposes, in the UK. 150 Holborn is energy-efficient and adaptable to climate change. The high-performing building envelope optimises daylight and views while façade fins provide solidity and reduce solar exposure. While conceived as a headquarters, the building may be adapted for use as a different type of commercial space in future. A range of low-carbon and circular interior design strategies include all task chairs and 70% of furniture are refurbished and reused; partitions and new furniture are designed for disassembly and manufactured locally; modular meeting pods can be reconfigured, dismantled, and fully recycled; and all textiles are low-VOC and fully recyclable. Photovoltaic cells on the roof generate renewable energy, while a blue roof system retains rainwater, mitigating the risk of over flooding. Grey water from basins and showers is treated and redistributed for irrigation. A pavilion and roof terrace planted with native planting help reduce the urban heat island effect, promote biodiversity, and give staff respite with excellent views. The building also provides 231 bicycle parking spaces and is located within walking distance to several major transport interchanges. Healthy food and beverages are available to all employees.
Tower Hamlets Town Hall
Tower Hamlets Civic Centre, the new headquarters for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, encompasses the restoration of the Grade II listed former Royal London Hospital building, and the addition of a new build extension. The move to the former hospital site will consolidate a number of the council’s offices into one location, and offer a broad range of public services to the borough’s residents, in a more accessible location in Whitechapel. The design proposal responds to key eras of the existing building’s development spanning between 1757 and 1906, utilising the architectural character inherent in each extension of the original building to enrich the new internal environment. The existing building retains the Georgian formality of its external facades which will be restored to create a backdrop to the council’s activities within the new extension. The internal finishes and double height volumes associated with the more ornate Arts and Crafts inspired operating theatre extensions will be revealed and reinstated to provide a vibrant mix of working environments. The new build extension will provide six upper levels of open plan office accommodation providing a contemporary working environment for 2470 council staff plus partner organisations. At ground level a new council chamber and associated meeting facilities will form the borough’s democratic focus together with a significant ‘local presence’ space. The existing former hospital building, being cellular in nature, will contain a range of meeting facilities for council staff, and public engagement space for Housing Options and customer services departments.
Brunel Building
Brunel Building, a 17-storey new-build workplace building, overlooks the Grand Union Canal and Paddington Station, the London terminus to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway, and is next to the site of Brunel’s first ever bridge. The elevated A40 expressway runs past and the Elizabeth Line, the new cross-London railway, stops near-by. One hundred-year-old cast-iron subway tunnels run beneath the site. This unique context sets the tone for the design of Brunel Building. The brief called for innovative workspace which would attract occupiers, as well as highlighting the significance and amenity of the area. The solution was technically driven by the presence of the canal and two underground tunnels running across one corner of the site. The steel diagrid exoskeleton is not only visually arresting but allows the building to span the tube lines. The building is pulled back at this corner to reduce loading, while a line of piles between the two tunnels helps to distribute foundation loads. Pushing the superstructure to the outside delivers column-free internal floor space, offering maximum flexibility and unimpeded views. The external structure also shades windows, allowing larger areas of glazing and deep daylight penetration. This impression of light and space is further enhanced by the high floor-to-ceiling dimensions. The floor structure and services are integrated into as tight a zone as possible to further increase ceiling heights. Building services have been left on display to reveal how the building has been constructed. This strategy is most emphatically revealed through the exposed external structure, while vibrant orange, inspired by waterside safety equipment, was chosen to highlight mechanical and structural elements and canal-side public lifts. Materials such as concrete, steel and sawn oak have been left exposed internally, and service ducts and pipes are visible. Environment and social sustainability were central to the ambitions of both design team and client. The external diagrid structure provides 20% shading to the facades, helping to reduce energy demand. An Aquifer Thermal Energy Store, with two forty-storey deep boreholes, provides low-carbon heating and cooling. Exposed undersides of the structural precast concrete floor panels help to deliver comfortable interior thermal gradients and more volume per person. Leaving the ceilings exposed also saved more than 540 tonnes of embodied carbon. More than 90% of construction waste was recycled and ground blast-furnace slag (a waste product from iron and steel production) was used in the concrete. The existing building on the site spanned this section of the canal blocking access and views along the canal. The canal-side walk is now publicly accessible for the first time in more than 200 years. Motorized hangar-sized glazed sliding doors can be rolled back to provide an extension to the new tree-lined towpath walkway. Passers-by can visit the canal-side restaurant café and bar and view the public art in the triple-height reception concourse. Meanwhile, occupiers have access to two expansive roof terraces with views across London. Soft landscaping, planters with wildflowers, trees and nesting boxes all contribute toward re-establishing the local ecology in what was previously a light-industrial area. All workspace was oversubscribed long before completion by a remarkably diverse ecology from many sectors; Sony Pictures, the Premier League, Alpha FX, Splunk, Hellman & Friedman, Coach and Paymentsense.
8 Bleeding heart yard
One previous building owners and two previous architects could not gain planning approval for its renovation and extension. Groupwork gained extensions to the side and upward, doubling the client’s net lettable area. Using historical surveys the eight buildings spanning 350years that had been demolished in the late 1960’s to make way for a single office building, were 3D mapped across the site. Revealing building lines, heights and streetscape that could be ‘remembered or misremembered’ and raise questions on material use to express that theme. Prior to design development, three rounds of community consultation were undertaken presenting and discussing the long history of Bleeding Heart Yard and Hatton Garden, originally named the gardens to the Bishop of Ely. Resulting in focused debates around nostalgia and false and idealised narratives of the past and the wish to remember and express a critical perspective. The 1960’s building demolished intact shopfronts on Greville Street and the coherent north east corner of Bleeding Heart Yard. The blank brick wall on Greville Street was removed and replaced with glazed shopfronts, the façade on Bleeding Heart Yard restored but including a double storey public colonnade for shelter from sun and rain. Only ground level brick walls, aluminium windows, internal fit-out and later partitions were removed. The interior cleaned, new wc and kitchenettes added with new air source heat pumps for heating and hot water. A heavy overcoat of insulation on the retained brick walls and new CLT/glulam extensions. All of which too the walls to the limit of the site boundary allowing for millimetres of perforated sheet to express what had once been on the site. The combination having negative embodied carbon when sequestrating timber is accounted.
1-2 Broadgate
1-2 Broadgate is a landmark mixed-use development that will provide flexible accommodation for office, retail, leisure and food and beverage uses. The development will play a pivotal role in the vision to diversify the Broadgate campus and create a world-class destination in one of the best-connected locations in central London. In plan, the proposed building footprint maintains the principles and geometry of the original Broadgate masterplan by framing the public space around Broadgate Circle, formally addressing Finsbury Avenue Square to the north, and clearly defining the north-south pedestrian axis along Finsbury Avenue. Covered retail arcades at lower ground and upper ground levels create significant new pedestrian routes through the site and across the campus, substantially improving permeability and accessibility with direct connections through to Liverpool Street Station. The four lower levels provide 150,000 square feet of retail space, with 375,000 square feet of new office space arranged over ten levels above. The massing and articulation help to break down the perceived scale of the building, particularly when viewed from street level. Lower level volumes pull apart to create entrances and retail arcades through the building whilst also defining its pedestrian edges. Upper level volumes step back to create generous terraces and balconies, providing a total of 45,000 square feet of amenity and green space for users of the building. The building envelope has been developed around a kit of parts, applied in response to building uses, floor level, orientation and envelope performance requirements, allowing the building to adapt and respond to future needs. Extruded metal fins on the façade are coloured to express the building’s stacked volumes, using earthy and autumnal colours sampled from the buildings in the surrounding area.
Bracken House
John Robertson Architects (JRA) has retrofitted Bracken House in the City of London for Obayashi Corporation. Originally designed by Albert Richardson in the early 1950s as the headquarters and print works for the Financial Times, the building underwent a dramatic reconstruction in 1988 by Michael Hopkins and Partners in the High-Tech style. After a quarter of a century of use, JRA has sensitively refurbished the Grade II* listed building. The building has been altered to provide an enlarged entrance hall, new internal courtyards which link the central office space with the 1950s wings, and a landscaped roof garden with a running track. The offices have been completely modernised with a new energy efficient air conditioning system and state-of-the-art LED lighting. Additional daylight has also been introduced into the atrium by partially glazing the atrium roof. JRA’s designs focused on innovation and practicality, prioritising intelligent design over costly solutions and value engineering at all stages. Maintaining an existing building allowed the team to reduce both cost and carbon without compromising on quality. JRA worked closely with ARUP to plan the refurbishment and used Building Information Modelling level two for design coordination and managing clash detection. The finished model contains over 27,000 items charting every aspect of the construction, which will enable repairs and replacements to be carried out with ease in the future. After an absence of almost 30 years, the team’s sensitive refurbishment has unified the designs and created an energy efficient, contemporary workplace with outstanding amenities, making it possible for the Financial Times to return.
1 Finsbury Avenue
1 Finsbury Avenue is a Grade II listed building constructed in the early 1980s, and designed by Arup Associates (Peter Foggo). As the first building in the later Broadgate development, it was significant in defining the speculative office typology in London. AHMM inherited a much loved and high quality building. The building facade was Grade II listed in 2015 and any new interventions had to be sensitive to the existing form and materials. AHMM’s refurbishment makes a number of interventions including additional roof terraces and connecting the ground floor with the public realm. Shifting the emphasis from single tenancy to mixed-use retail, leisure and flexible co-working office space targeting tech occupiers reinforces British Land’s vision for a vibrant masterplan and public realm. The building has been stripped of its corporate layers to expose an impressive steel frame, which was decorated as found. An honesty of new elements and exposed services created a striking industrial aesthetic. The ethos ‘Raw is More’ repositions the nature of office space within the City. Foggo’s original concept for a public route through 1 Finsbury Avenue connecting Wilson Street and Finsbury Avenue Square has been reestablished. This is an important element in activating the ground floor and connecting this building with the wider Broadgate Campus. In the centre of the Lower Atrium there is a striking installation designed in collaboration with Studio Myerscough, which acts as a beacon of how this architecturally important and flexible office building has once again been reimagined. 1FA has been key to delivering British Land and GIC’s ambition to diversify the tenant mix at Broadgate, both in terms of sector and size. They wanted the building design and the leasing strategy to position the building as a next generation hub for tech and creative businesses and create a catalyst for change at Broadgate. To support this strategy and the wider desire to improve the retail and leisure on the campus, they wanted to open up the ground and experiment with uses, which draw people into the building and create a truly integrated, mixed-use facility. British Land Storey (fit out by Gensler) have occupied the co-working floors to offer occupiers flexibility, both in terms of design and leasing, so that British Land can support them as their needs change. British Land targeted a quick programme for the works. This resulted in overlapping work streams in order to meet the demands of planning, design, construction, marketing and tenant change. Sir Robert McApline were appointed as Construction Manager as part of a 10 year framework of delivery on the campus. 1FA was 85% pre-let to target occupiers and delivered back to the market in 2 years from full vacant possession.
Benjamin Street
The scheme at 1-5 Benjamin Street is a modern interpretation of a Victorian brick warehouse that will stand the test of time. Located on an L-shaped corner plot within the Clerkenwell Conservation Area, adjacent to the new Crossrail hub at Farringdon Station, the mixed-use development replaces a disparate trio of existing buildings that are no longer fit for purpose with a five-storey city sandwich of retail space at ground floor, three levels of open-plan offices in the middle, and penthouse apartments at roof level. The building’s two principal elevations respond to two different conditions: the Benjamin Street facade symmetrically addresses St John’s Gardens, echoing the square proportions of the nearby Victorian warehouses, while the Turnmill Street facade, which looks across the train lines at Farringdon Station, has a vertical emphasis that responds to the grain of the neighbouring buildings and the public nature of the street. Both facades are brick, offset by patterned concrete panels, lintel and cill details. The historically significant Faulkner’s Alley is retained and improved with the creation of a small landscaped open space which contributes to the layering of the urban fabric and is visible from Benjamin Street through a largely glazed office reception.
The Truman Brewery
The Truman Brewery Masterplan reimagines this historic 1.2-hectare site in Spitalfields as a vibrant mixed-use quarter, establishing a new architectural dialogue between East London's industrial heritage and contemporary urban life. Our comprehensive masterplanning approach orchestrates eight distinct buildings—six new interventions and two carefully restored structures—around a sequence of characterful public spaces. The architectural language responds sensitively to the Conservation Area context while introducing distinctive contemporary forms that enhance the urban grain. The scheme's 30,000 square metres deliver a finely balanced mix of uses: 16,200 square metres of flexible workspace forms the commercial heart, while 3,000 square metres of residential accommodation introduces a permanent community. Cultural programmes are integral to the vision, with a 780-square-metre cinema/event venue, 1,600 square metres of exhibition space, and dedicated art gallery facilities creating a destination that remains activated beyond working hours. At ground level, the pedestrian experience is prioritised through 2,500 square metres of high-quality public realm. A network of characterful yards—Cooperage Yard, Chimney Yard, and Black Eagle Yard—creates legible pathways through the site, connecting Brick Lane, Woodseer Street, Hanbury Street and Buxton Street. These spaces are framed by 2,175 square metres of retail and F&B units, a 480-square-metre market hall, and a 130-square-metre microbrewery that collectively animate the public realm. The architectural approach is contextually driven, with building heights ranging from two to seven storeys. This careful massing respects the surrounding urban fabric while optimising the site's potential. Each building maintains its individual identity while contributing to a cohesive whole through complementary materiality and proportions. Sustainability principles underpin the design, from the fundamental decision to retain and adapt existing structures where viable, to the integration of extensive biodiverse green roofs, living walls and native tree planting. The masterplan's mixed-use nature inherently supports the 15-minute city concept, reducing transport needs and creating a resilient, walkable neighbourhood. The Truman Brewery Masterplan represents a new model for sensitive urban regeneration—one that respects heritage while embracing the future, balances commercial viability with community benefit, and creates distinctive architecture that enhances its historic context. The result is not merely a collection of buildings but a meaningful extension of Spitalfields' urban fabric that will sustain this culturally significant site for generations to come.
Norton Folgate
The Norton Folgate site, comprising three urban blocks, sits within the Elder Street Conservation Area and occupies a prominent position within The City Fringe between the City of London and Shoreditch. While the Conservation Area is small, there are dramatic changes in character from one street to the next. The masterplan has been developed to respond to this mixed character, bringing vacant or under used buildings back into use and reconnecting and enhancing the public realm. Rather than applying a blanket strategy, the masterplan employs a building-by-building approach to the retained existing buildings, utilizing restoration, refurbishment, extension, remodelling, and facade retention to breathe new life into the architecture. Sensitively designed new buildings have been introduced in a palette of materials, including brick which was selected for its robustness, quality, and appropriateness to the Conservation Area’s character. Given the variegated character of Norton Folgate, four different architectural practices were brought together to diversify the architectural approach and style. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) was appointed as masterplanner and designed three buildings, Blossom Yard & Studios, Nicholls and Clarke, and Loom Court. Stanton Williams, Morris + Company, and DSDHA designed Elder Yard and Studios, 15 Norton Folgate, and 16 Blossom Street respectively, with East leading the public realm strategy. Across the six buildings, a range office types with retail at ground level has been created with the aim of attracting tenants from start-ups and SMEs to mature organisations and appealing to the local tech and creative industries. The public realm design enhances the tight network of existing streets and creates three new yard spaces that draw on the character of the surrounding historic blocks.
BROADGATE TOWER
The Broadgate Tower redevelopment represents a landmark transformation of one of London's iconic structures in the heart of the City. Spanning approximately 130,182 square feet, the project encompasses a thorough refurbishment of 14 tower floors accompanied by a three-storey extension. Central to our design vision is creating an inviting, accessible ground floor experience with a revitalised entrance plaza and active frontages along Primrose Street that will engage the surrounding urban fabric. The redevelopment prioritises sustainability through innovative features including air source heat pumps, exposed CLT slabs, and recycled steel elements. This commitment extends to promoting sustainable urban mobility with state-of-the-art end-of-trip facilities accommodating 365 long-stay cycle spaces, 42 short-stay spaces, 35 showers, and 352 smart lockers. Occupants will benefit from modernised workspaces designed to foster collaboration and wellbeing, enhanced by biophilic elements throughout the reception areas. The amenity offering is equally impressive, featuring lounge spaces, meeting rooms, prayer facilities, and a signature bar and terrace on Level 3 with panoramic views of the London skyline. Positioned at the nexus of Shoreditch, the City of London, and Silicon Roundabout, the redeveloped Broadgate Tower will serve as a dynamic destination that responds to evolving workplace demands while honouring its architectural heritage. Our team faced complex challenges, including working with an existing structure while maintaining operations for current occupants. Despite these constraints, our thoughtful approach ensures the building will emerge as a benchmark for sustainable urban regeneration.
Blossom Street, E1
The Blossom Street site, comprised of three urban blocks, falls within the Elder Street Conservation Area and occupies a prominent position on the city fringe between the City of London and Shoreditch. While the Conservation Area is small, there are dramatic changes in character from one street to the next. The masterplan has been developed to respond to this mixed character, bringing vacant or underused buildings back into use and reconnecting and enhancing the public realm. Rather than applying a blanket strategy, the masterplan takes a building-by-building approach to the retained existing buildings, including restoration, refurbishment, extension, remodelling and some facade retention, as well as introducing sensitively designed new buildings in a palette of materials including brick, selected for its robustness, quality and appropriateness to the Conservation Area’s character. The masterplan responds to the opportunity to increase employment, improve the environment and reconnect the site with the surrounding area. The office component will provide a range of different office types and floor plate sizes to attract a range of tenants from more mature firms to startups and local small and medium sized businesses, and will appeal to the burgeoning tech and creative industries in the Spitalfields and Shoreditch area. Residential units including affordable housing will also be provided. The new public realm will enhance the tight network of existing streets and the busy roads of Shoreditch High Street and Commercial Street; three new yard spaces will draw on the character of the surrounding historic blocks, while active frontages at ground will animate the new yards and open space. AHMM is masterplanner and lead architect, designing three buildings within the masterplan, with Stanton Williams, Duggan Morris Architects and DSDHA designing the other three buildings.
The Goodsyard
A new neighbourhood for joint venture development partners Hammerson and Ballymore, to regenerate the ten acre Bishopsgate Goodsyard site, creating a vibrant new mixed-use urban quarter in the heart of Shoreditch focusing on flexible workspace and the creative industries. The plans include 5.9 acres of public realm both at ground level and as part of the proposed park on top of the historic Braithwaite Viaduct. This will include a diverse mix of imaginative landscaped spaces, as well as cafés, restaurants and a hotel, creating active uses as part of the extended ‘high-line’-style walkway. At street level our approach to routes and public spaces includes a new east-west pedestrian street running from Brick Lane to Shoreditch High Street. Our vision for the site is to create an internationally renowned place of exchange where the union of visitors, residents, workers, innovators, and makers continue to build on the creative vibrancy palpable in this district of London. The Goodsyard celebrates existing cultural features, whilst improving the amenities of the public, and enriching a healthier community. Our proposals have been shaped to provide significant areas of open green park space alongside smaller areas of hard and soft publicly accessible places in which people can relax and enjoy the city. We believe by generously inviting neighbours into the Goodsyard it will create a culture of ownership and belonging. The Goodsyard will become a neighbourhood which is inhabited by the people and through their own efforts it will become a purposeful and valuable place in the city. Across the site, open public realm includes the provision over 1,000m² of biodiverse / green roofs, over 180 trees, over 2,500m² of lawn and significant planting; including invertebrate focused planting as well as bird and bat boxes. It is also anticipated that there will be opportunities for urban farming. The heritage assets that exist within the Goodsyard are unique in character and scale. They range from heroic super-structures to intimate small interfaces, the character of which is defined by the multiple layers of patina ingrained on the many surfaces throughout their rich life. This heritage will contribute significantly to the sense of a place and generate economic, social and environmental value. Opening up the Goodsyard and reusing the existing structures to bring shape and character to the development are fundamental in establishing a new identity for the area that is firmly founded on this rich granular history. The street and routes through the site are proposed in a simple layout that integrates with the streets that surround the Goodsyard. A combination of new streets and squares will create a series of new connections across the site, some of which have been lost for over a century. The revised building blocks respond to existing block patterns surrounding the site, creating a contextually appropriate urban grain. On the ground floor a mixture of retail, food and drink and cultural uses aim to create a place that is active, animated and safe for everyone to use. Retail, food and drink are focused on the east-west connections, acting as a draw through the site, with the two main cultural attractions located at the eastern and western ends of the site, connecting with the surrounding area. On the highline level, the development will provide a range of housing types and sizes to meet a range of different needs. This will include 35% affordable housing (based on habitable rooms), of which 70% will be social rent and 30% will be intermediate. The housing has been distributed across a number of buildings to minimise the impact and retain a more appropriate and sensitive scale. The proposed architecture has been inspired by the warehouse building-style that richly characterise this area of Shoreditch and East London. New homes across the site have ‘zero carbon’ target and all other buildings target a 35% improvement on (Part L) Building Regulations. The highline level also provides varied and flexible workspaces across the office campus occupying the western end of the site, ensuring it will not only attract new businesses to the area, but also provide the vital space for existing small businesses, providing opportunity for them to grow. All floorplate levels will be capable of multiple subdivisions and layouts, allowing maximum flexibility for tenant use. It is anticipated that the development will create up to c.10,000 new jobs, plus approximately 5,200 during construction.
Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children
Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children At the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, the healthcare environment has been reimagined as a shared civic experience in the heart of London’s Bloomsbury Conservation Area. Designed for Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London, the 13,000sqm facility combines pioneering translational research with clinical care and is the first purpose-built paediatric centre of its kind in the world. From its symbolic central London location, the public-facing research facility celebrates the often ‘invisible’ work of researchers and clinicians and their vital contribution to society. Facing Coram’s Fields - a site dedicated to children’s welfare for over 250 years – the building invites views into a 600sqm double-height laboratory and engages science and healthcare with urban life. Placing science on show, the principal laboratory at the base of the building is visible from all sides within the Centre as well as from the street outside. A shared single entrance bridge, which passes above this laboratory, welcomes both research staff and patients, drawing them into a central atrium, flooded with light. A transparent ground floor gives visibility and prominence to the activities inside the laboratory, while carefully articulated terracotta fins and glazing address Coram’s Fields and reflect the changing sky - expressing the civic significance of this ground-breaking institution. Inside, the Zayed Centre for Research is organised around two connected ‘hearts’, an outpatient zone and a research zone, each planned as layered volumes around a daylit atrium. Across eight storeys the building provides outpatient clinics for children and young people, a manufacturing unit for gene and cell therapies, specialist laboratories and research workspace, together with seminar and meeting spaces. The brief prioritised the experience of children and building users, alongside the values of collaboration, curiosity and innovation. The visionary architectural approach challenges the technical and clinical character of healthcare buildings by placing the human experience at the heart of science and care. Generosity of space, natural light and a ‘non-clinical ’architectural language create an uplifting and shared human experience. Throughout, specially commissioned artwork by Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Arts programme, further enhances the environment shared by researchers, clinical staff, patients and families alike, in the endeavour to understand and overcome the impact of life-changing diseases. Seeking to deliver ground-breaking health outcomes, while championing social value, sustainability and wellbeing, the BREEAM Excellent Zayed Centre for Research is a compelling demonstration that achieving high environmental aspirations is possible even for a complex, highly serviced building of this nature. The building's overall heating and cooling demand has been reduced and in doing so it achieves a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, 37% below the UK Building Regulations baseline in this technically demanding healthcare and research facility.
Grafton Way Building
The University College Hospital Grafton Way Building by Scott Tallon Walker Architects in association with Edward Williams Architects has completed, providing a major new healthcare facility offering cutting-edge cancer treatment to NHS and private patients in the UK. In line with UCLH’s visionary plan, the new hospital delivers almost 37,000m2 of contemporary architecturally innovative facilities and houses one of just two NHS Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) centres in the UK, making it one of the leading oncology treatment hospitals in the world. Central to UCLH’s vision was the aspiration to create a facility that delivers the very best medical treatment and aids patient and staff wellbeing and experience. The new building is located on a tight challenging site, in close proximity to two Grade II-listed UCL buildings and directly below the Mayor of London’s protected view corridor. To create the required clinical space while respecting protected views and surrounding heritage, the building has a significant five-storey plus mezzanine basement, equivalent in cubic volume to the Royal Albert Hall, and presenting significant engineering challenges. Above this there are seven floors of clinical and support accommodation. This landmark hospital houses the PBT centre, and a surgical complex comprised of eight operating theatres, surgical recovery area, and surgical ward. Additionally, there is a full imaging centre, ten-bed critical care unit and three floors of inpatient wards for patients with blood disorders creating one of Europe's largest dedicated Haem-Oncology hospitals, and one and a half floors for a private inpatient haematology service. Waiting areas have been created for children, teenagers and young adults, as well as a Macmillan Living Room providing holistic patient care. The brief required a solution that was an affordable, functional, and high-quality building. The design had to be consistent with the best in clinical design, in line with Trusts’ aspirations as a world-class provider of clinical care. As this is mainly a Cancer Hospital, there was a great emphasis on comfort and wellbeing, particularly in relation to long term and immune-compromised Haem-Oncology inpatients. The building is characterised by generosity of space, transparency, and sensory encounters to offer respite from its busy city location. To align with adjacent buildings and to protect light and sight lines, the building is stepped back across its section and split into two corresponding blocks. These are connected by a spacious, light- filled atrium designed to bring natural daylight right down through the building and into all inpatient rooms. The building’s innovative bespoke ‘veiled’ façade provides solar shading and layers of privacy, while providing greater openness, connectivity, and visibility to the outside world for these long-term patients. A contemporary material palette complements the existing Portland stone cladding of neighbouring buildings, and the project has a positive urban impact on the previously derelict site. Internally, the choices of material, colour palette, motifs and artwork are guided by a ‘natural garden’ theme. The design embraces the principles of direct visual access to natural daylight, materials and landscapes through a series of planted terraces intended to flower year-round.
Maida Vale Studios
This scheme aims to comprehensively refurbish the world-famous Grade II Listed Maida Vale Studios. The studios have been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions since the BBC converted the building in 1934. In 2023 the studios were sold to a partnership of Working Title’s Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner with the legendary composer Hans Zimmer and Steven Kofsky, who plan to create an outstanding venue for creative work. The proposed scheme aims to seamlessly blend the artistic legacy of this illustrious recording studio with the rapidly changing demands of today’s creative industries. To provide a globally significant facility that combines state-of-the-art music studios, with all elements of film post-production under one roof. The proposals sit within the existing building area, retaining and enhancing the Edwardian frame and frontage whilst upgrading the existing recording studios to deliver cutting edge facilities. The retrofit first approach focuses on using sustainable solutions retaining the existing building fabric and upgrading this to improve energy efficiency and minimise carbon emissions. The renovation has been designed to preserve the building’s heritage, revealing historic layers while retaining and improving the exterior, with sensitive enhancements to the main and southern entrances. Unsympathetic modern additions will be removed, such as the external plant tower which detracts from the exterior of the building and the corrugated metal roof which is to be replaced with a new high-performance standing seam roof. Work on the interior will preserve historic elements while providing new, upgraded facilities. The public realm adjacent to the Studios will be reconfigured to provide a more welcoming arrival, with the footway outside of the entrances being widened to facilitate this with new landscaping and visitor cycle parking. In addition to retaining all existing trees new planting will be introduced to improve the immediate area, creating a pleasant, attractive external environment. The refurbishment will respect the studios residential neighbours aiming to enhance the local area with minimal impact on residents. The scheme is also supporting talent and artistry within the North Paddington Creative Enterprise Zone. Maida Vale Studios was originally built as a Roller-Skating Palace in 1909, designed by the then noted architects Detmar and Greg. It was converted into a recording studio after being bought by the BBC in 1934.
The Bower
The Bower is the reinvention of a collection of 1960s buildings originally built for British Telecom when the world of work was very different from today. A windswept and overlooked site has been re-engaged with the city, with a new pedestrian street linking the Old Street boulevard with the more delicate backstreets of Moorfields. A contemporary mix of retail, restaurants, studios and larger floorplate offices are housed within the re-worked Tower, the Warehouse to the rear (where BT printed their bills), and a collection of smaller Studio buildings which line the site and frame the new mews. The regeneration of the public realm creates new external spaces and routes linking north to south. The tallest building is stripped back, extended outwards and upwards, and given a new facade. A language of Miesian profiles in a metallic grey-brown defines the architectural character of the Tower, with patterned glass spandrels to control heat gain. Side extensions to the Tower provide double-height spaces and characterful office floors. The original sculptural pre-cast concrete panels to the Warehouse have been restored, the bricks are cleaned, and new windows complement the existing facade. The new Studio buildings extend this language of brick and profiled glazing frames, as well as helping to activate the public realm. On the ground floor, a new route from Old Street is cut through the base of the slab block, introducing permeability and making the visual connection to a new courtyard and the street route. The project extends the architect's involvement in the overall regeneration of the Old Street area, and connects into a wider network of buildings, routes, yards, and places. Initially briefed in April 2012, the scheme was completed in August 2018 with a budget of £115m.
Paradise
The Paradise project will create a new workplace building on the site of the former Costa Roastery, which sits in a prominent location opposite Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery and adjacent to the historic green space of Old Paradise Gardens - part of the Lambeth Palace Conservation Area. The aim of the project is to create an exemplar low carbon and highly sustainable building that relates strongly to its context and its rich cultural heritage. It aims to set new benchmarks of environmentally friendly, low carbon construction whilst promoting occupiers’ health and wellbeing. The architectural approach has sought to create a modern yet appropriate character for a building within a conservation area context. The façade draws inspiration from the former Royal Doulton HQ nearby and the glazed ceramic cladding reflects a progressive approach using traditional materials in a contemporary manner. The site’s location along the railway approaches into Waterloo Station offers huge opportunities of engagement with commuters. The design seeks to enhance the permeability of the building, making commuters aware of the presence of Old Paradise Gardens beyond while offering future users of the building the potential to interact with the railway at viaduct level in a dynamic way. The design can be a catalyst for linkages between the Gardens and Newport St, promoting opportunities to revitalise the viaducts. The building will be landmark timber framed. The generous floor heights and flexible open-plan in combination with the servicing strategy create a future flexible and low energy building. This whole life approach has also been reflected in the careful con-sideration given to the end of life strategy, such as allowing for easy disassembly structure connections. With the use of primarily timber structure in combination with a super-efficient all-electric M&E system, this building aims to be carbon negative for around 60 years of use from a whole-life perspective. The site’s unique central London location and proximity to the Old Paradise Gardens allows us to explore design options that maximise crucial health and well-being factors for users eg natural ventilation and access to green spaces. Through the design and materials, we also aim to positively impact the local community by careful consideration and appreciation of the area’s rich history.
Young V&A
AOC Architecture and De Matos Ryan have transformed the former Museum of Childhood in east London to create Young V&A, the UK’s first national museum built with and for young people. The 5,200sqm redeveloped Grade II* listed museum is both a world-class centre of creativity and an essential public building for the local community. Over 20,000 people were involved in an ambitious co-design process to ensure that the museum serves the needs and ambitions of its audiences. Co-creation defined the development of Young V&A; from the ambition to create ‘the most joyful museum in the world’ to the direct development of the colour palette, from testing user-led concept installations to curating specific contents of co-produced displays. The building has been stripped back to reveal its original form and celebrate its historic features. Natural light has been reinstated through the main linear rooflight, returning this 19th century top-lit museum to its original state. New interventions redefine the visitor journey and enhance the character of the original building. Improved acoustics and enhanced environmental controls safeguard the heritage asset and its collections. The building’s central ‘Town Square’ provides a generous civic interior for Bethnal Green, surrounded by three permanent galleries containing 2,000 world-class objects from the V&A collection and a temporary exhibition gallery. A new Kaleidoscope stair, lift and accessible ramp transform the circulation to create an inclusive visitor experience. The historic monochromatic mosaic floor has been restored and fully revealed. The grandeur of the town square is tempered with a London Plane perimeter bench, a family of soft elements and new café furniture. The redeveloped foyer provides a generous welcome with a convenient buggy park and an extensive new shop with added window seats. The lower ground floor has been restructured to provide a suite of workshops and learning spaces, improved back of house spaces and a changing places facility. A series of figurative enclosures and playful totems have been introduced into the open volumes of the surrounding gallery floors to create a diverse range of experiences whilst maintaining visual connections throughout the building. The gallery names - Play, Imagine, Design - are writ large in redolent materials, enabling visitors to understand the museum in a single glance. The careful arrangement of enclosures and cases allow the galleries to enjoy extensive daylight whilst conserving the collection. Young V&A has circular economy at its heart. New structures on the first floor sample the roof trusses and historic ‘Brompton Boilers’ cladding profile to create new structures evocative of east London’s industrial heritage. Their expressed components, designed for future re-assembly, are clad in corrugated sheets of low-carbon hemp fibre panels with sugar-based resin made entirely from agricultural waste. Museum showcases from both sites have been repurposed and carefully adapted for new displays. Timber from former gallery storage has been reused for new display tables, reclaimed timber studs from temporary exhibitions has been reused for support structures and masonry rubble from the building adaptation works has been reused to make terrazzo for new worktops.
330 Gray's Inn Road
330 Gray’s Inn Road is a 356,000sqft mixed-use masterplan on the site of the former Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in King’s Cross, central London. The proposal consists of five buildings: • A 180-room hotel with leisure uses, including restaurants, bars and café. • A 100,000sqft office building with two floors that are lab-enabled for future market and tenant flexibility • 72 residential units of mix tenure including private market apartments and affordable family homes across two buildings with a shared residential garden between • New public connections at ground floor leading to a public courtyard away from the busy vehicular routes surrounding the site. The courtyard and residential gardens have been designed in collaboration with EAST Architects. • A site wide energy centre with an all-electric heating and cooling system supported by air source heat pumps and additional photovoltaics panels. The urban arrangement of the buildings, courtyards, garden, and public routes will reconnect and invigorate a large vacant site within a disconnected Victorian quarter of former industrial glory. The existing hospital facility has been subjected to an ad-hoc expansion over its 150-year presence. The proposals seek to reflect this character through a set of new buildings with a fine urban grain and a varied architectural character that enhances the conservation area in the heart of King’s Cross. The existing hospital buildings create a barrier forcing pedestrians onto the busy road network. The proposal creates a series of new connections to Wicklow Street, a quiet, cobbled street of special character. These routes intersect at a new active public courtyard between the office and hotel offering new walking routes and a place to dwell. Fronting Gray’s Inn Road, the original hospital building will be retained as a public facing building with a new public connection leading to an enclosed hotel courtyard and onto the public courtyard. The new elements of the 180-room hotel have been designed across two different volumes each with a profiled glazed terracotta cladding. The taller orange coloured element references nearby red brick buildings with a vertical expression and open corners. The other is lower and finished with an off-white profiled terracotta arranged in a grid-like manner. Centrally located within the site, the 100,000sqft office and lab-enabled building has a cranked elevation following the bend in Wicklow Street fronting the new public courtyard. Cascading terraces face the residential garden reducing overlooking and maximising daylight. The facade material selection, proportion of openings and level of detailing respond to the four different surrounding streetscapes. The Swinton Street building provides 28 affordable homes with short gallery access along the road facing side, with the rear benefiting from an aspect over the shared residential garden. The facade is elegant and simple, using brick and precast concrete elements to create a bookended building. The Wicklow Street building provides 44 private apartments above affordable workspace. The building is sculpted on all sides with setback terraces above a cantilevered element adjacent to the railway. The facade treatment has a strong, robust and textured base with inset balconies, above sits a more framed expression with scalloped concrete.
Belgrove House
Belgrove House is an innovative laboratory and office building and the Discovery Centre and UK HQ of global life sciences company MSD. Subject to planning permission, the proposed building would be a world leader in sustainability and act as a new world-class landmark on this prominent gateway site. The building continues the tradition of innovative engineering expressed in the Grade 1 listed heritage buildings of King’s Cross & St. Pancras stations. At the northern half of the site the building responds to the civic scale of the Euston Road and the two stations. Here it rises to 10 storeys; on the southern part of the site the building steps down to 4 storeys with a setback 5th storey and terrace facing the Georgian terraces of Argyle Square. The building is structured around a series of brick-clad risers which allow efficient distribution of large volumes of air to the lab floors, ensuring energy use is minimised. The ‘double square’ structure based on an optimised 10 metre grid allows for a highly efficient structural design and is part of a series of features allowing embodied carbon to be reduced. The public realm surrounding all sides of the building will be transformed, including the removal of two obtrusive London Underground entry boxes on Euston Road with integration of a new Underground entrance in Belgrove House. The building includes a publicly-accessible ground floor level designed to encourage interaction with the local community and organisations within the Knowledge Quarter. The lab floors feature extra tall space and robust structure to allow flexibility for occupants and future proof labs for world-leading research.
London Chest Hospital
The redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital site in Bethnal Green aims to transform the disused site into a successful community of 274 new homes; the masterplan focuses on both preserving and restoring the site’s historical elements. The masterplan focuses on both preserving and restoring the site’s historical elements. The refurbishment will include the Grade II listed main hospital building, the Sanitary Tower, and the South Wing, which are all currently on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. In addition, five new buildings ranging from five to nine storeys will be constructed, providing carefully designed new housing of which 50% will be affordable housing (by habitable room), with a significant proportion (70%) allocated for Social Rent. The Hospital’s historic grounds will be opened to the public for the first time in nearly a decade with 1,140 square metres of open space, including the creation of a new public square next to St James’ Avenue, and the restoration of the formal lawn in front of the main hospital building. The veteran Mulberry tree on site, which reputed to be the oldest tree in the East End, will remain in its original location, aligning with community and environmental priorities. The proposals have been developed to maximise the number of dual aspects apartments within the constraints of the working around the listed buildings with 62% of new build homes dual aspect. There is a focus on the design of high quality new affordable family homes to the south of the site. Blocks A & B address Bonner Square and the new public square. They contain 100% dual aspect family homes designed to overlook the child play spaces below. Central to the sustainability strategy is reinstating a long-term viable use to the Grade II listed Former Chest Hospital, Sanitary Tower and South Wing which will secure its ongoing conservation and maintenance, removing the building from the Heritage at Risk Register. As a result, C4,700m2 of the GIA is made up of retained buildings, resulting in a significant reduction on the material quantities for the sub and super structures. The upfront embodied carbon (modules A1-5) the development achieves a result of 441.6kg CO2/m2 which is lower than the GLA WLC Residential Benchmark of 850kg CO2/m2 and the aspirational benchmark of 500 kg CO2/m2.
Regent’s View Bethnal Green
Broadway East will celebrate the unique industrial character of a London gasholder site, providing 555 new private and affordable homes, new spaces for jobs, socialising and leisure, and 1.75 acres of public open space and landscaping. The development site, located in Bethnal Green / London Borough of Tower Hamlets, has been an industrial facility since the mid-19th Century and prior to that marsh land – and has never accommodated residential use before. The urban context has evolved significantly throughout the site history. Former industrial sites are incredibly complex, covering challenges such as historic contamination and tight site logistics. The scheme comprises five faceted buildings ranging from 6–13 storeys, which, in addition to the high-quality new homes, will provide 4,182 sqm of flexible non-residential floorspace. The design proposes a radial setting for the placement of five buildings inspired by the shapes of the existing two gasholder frames, framing the green, landscaped space at the heart of the scheme – maximising visual and pedestrian connections throughout. Residential accommodation is located at first floor level and above, opening up the ground levels to create an active, lively, joyful and safe public realm. Residential apartments will benefit from uninterrupted views of the landscape, the existing gasholder frames, Regent’s Canal, and mid and long-distance views between and beyond neighbouring buildings. Separating accommodation into five buildings will maximise visual and pedestrian permeability through the site. Activation and programming is planned for the public and semi-private spaces to bring together the new community and the existing neighbourhood. The feature of the two retained gasholder frames provides the Broadway East development with a unique character going beyond the provision of homes. The site’s history has an immediate influence on the built forms, particularly the shape of the gas holder frames, and was an essential source of inspiration – both in terms of the shape of the buildings as well as their appearance. The lattice-work beam at the top the gasholder frame remains visible against the sky to preserve the gasholder as a landmark and to create a distinctive skyline. The historic layers and the industrial language of the retained gasholder frames and the colour palette of the materials, from dark red to orange and yellow, characterise the scheme. The two existing gasholders will be dismantled, refurbished, and reinstated to create a strong architectural narrative driven by an understanding of the industrial heritage of the site. The scheme’s open areas offer large and small green spaces for play and relaxation, and good connections to the surrounding neighbourhood. The canal side in front of the gasholders becomes publicly accessible open space allowing permeability and connectivity of the currently landlocked site and reinstates access to a substantial stretch of the Regent’s Canal, for the first time in more than 150 years. Careful consideration has been given to the new pedestrian and cyclist connectivity so that the site is welcoming, accessible and legible and the transitions between the adjacent urban and conservation areas and the canal waterfront are resolved.
Britannia Leisure Centre
Hackney Council is constructing a state-of-the art leisure centre next to Shoreditch Park, as part of a wider masterplan which includes a new secondary school and hundreds of new homes - including 81 for social rent and shared ownership. The leisure centre has been designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects and will replace the existing Britannia Leisure Centre, which will remain open until the new centre is complete. The new leisure centre will include a six-lane, 25m main pool; training pool; leisure water area; a six-court sports hall; four squash courts; fitness suite; exercise studios; creche and soft play area; and a café which will be available to Shoreditch Park users. In addition, there are two tennis courts and two 5-a-side football pitches located on the roof of the building. The design proposal represents a considered approach to the horizontal layering of the required leisure facilities. Minimising the building’s overall footprint in this way has allowed for a new public square to be created on the northern edge of the site. This animated civic space between the leisure centre and proposed residential buildings acts as a welcoming new gateway into Shoreditch Park, ensuring maximum visibility of the leisure centre and park. The external skin of the building reinforces the building’s plan. The visually dynamic pool halls, café, fitness suite, exercise studios and soft play areas are positioned on the external perimeter of the plan so that they are all highly visible from the new square, Pitfield Street and Shoreditch Park, whilst the cellular changing accommodation is positioned in its heart. This strategy encourages participation in sport and creates an active building frontage to the surrounding context. The elegant and robust external envelope has been designed to bring legible order to the layered arrangement of the internal sports spaces. The systematic envelope design is executed with a neutral colour palette and measured material selection. This allows the internal sports spaces and occupants to provide the colour, character and animation to the building elevations. The principles of inclusivity and accessibility have played a significant role in the design strategy for the new centre. In developing the changing facilities the design team has consulted closely with Project Indigo, Hackney Council’s LGBTQ youth group and counselling service for primarily young people in need of advice or support, on matters of gender and sex. As a result the toilet and changing accommodation within the wet and dry changing areas has been designed to provide choice. Visitors are able to select the environment which best suits their needs, from individual wet and dry changing accommodation, with dedicated showers and toilets in the dry changing areas, to group changing facilities. This approach sets a new benchmark for inclusive changing facilities in a public facility of this type. Britannia Leisure Centre is an exciting and new interpretation of civic sports, providing the most modern facilities within a design that is both pragmatic and proud, equipped to serve Hackney for many generations to come. https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/hackney/britannia-leisure-centre.
KOKO
KOKO originally a music theatre by W.G.R. Sprague, has had its’ 122 year history re-invigorated. Whilst paying homage to the history of the theatre; the new architectural project has amalgamated the Hope & Anchor pub and former piano factory with an extensive new extension into a transformative complex, becoming a dynamic, future-facing broadcasting experience alongside the full restoration of the theatre, and multiple venues on a singular site. Much of the activity focuses on the auditorium, where acts can perform in the round, and the adjoining Victorian fly tower, which created an opportunity to become an immersive music venue in its’ own right. Original scenography from the 1900s was discovered during the redevelopment work is revealed in the backdrop. The FT described KOKO as ‘The Arts Space for the Future’ where the ambition is to create a cultural and global landmark for emerging musicians and artists. In developing the concept, the architect’s embodied KOKO’s ‘sui generis’ by being able to create a social environment for the present as it has done throughout its’ history. The architects have reversed the erosion of the building’s heritage and re-attested its position within Camden’s urban fabric. Interventions arrange the theatre over multiple galleries overseeing the stage, sitting below the discovery of the original theatrical flywheel. Laterally linking the galleries to decks of the new social spaces within the adjacent new structure creates an architectural first, where hospitality sits alongside an immersive social and musical environment including a recording studio, artist’s lounge, jazz bar, vinyl room, listening booths, bars and dining spaces. The projects’ sensitivity to the historic fabric highlights Sprague’s free classical façade, the full reconstruction of the dome (post fire). A pioneering glazed rooftop pavilion suspends above the original auditorium, created through ingenious structural solution respecting the existing historic interior, not achieved above a Victorian Theatre before. Throughout, historic plasterwork has been restored in the music hall interiors and the creation of ‘House of KOKO’, as a standalone club, is connected by clever backstage lateral routes which run vertical and horizontally connecting every area, behind the stage and into the new pavilion and dome. All of this is supplemented by surviving historical cleats, ropes and theatrical machinery, all adding to the originality and expression of combining hospitality, music apparatus and performance spaces, public and private. A decorative front façade is now complete with the dome reconstruction. Scalloped copings, an open terrace and glazed canopy sheltering guests. The pub retains its faience façade from 1860 and as the building turns into the mews, the upper floors provide a rhythm of aluminium U-sections organising Crittal factory windows sitting above the former piano works. Glazed bottle-green tiles complete the transformation linking the new building with the Hope & Anchor before the building steps back to reveal the dome and reinstated cupola. With shared intimacy or collective celebration, KOKO’s revival as a grand old hall with a new lease of life through live streaming, recording, hospitality and live entertainment will ensure its’ survival for future generations.
City of London Academy Shoreditch Park
The Britannia Project regenerates a thriving London community with the facilities and amenities it needs, delivering new housing and new school places to anticipate the requirements of its expanding population. From the outset, Hackney stipulated that it was essential that the new Academy meet and exceed the quality of Hackney’s school building stock. The City of London Academy Shoreditch Park, is an urban school on a tight site. Clearly defined entrances on the street and active frontages to Hyde Road and Pitfield Street give it a civic presence which is echoed by the quality and materials of the stone and brick precast facades. The four and five storey building opens up to the playground, maximising playspace, both at ground level and on the roof top games area. The interior is arranged around two atria with a primary corridor at each floor running east to west. The building has been designed to allow for daylight and internal views through these atria spaces to produce a bright and comfortable school with a connection to its environment. Timber acoustic linings bring a warmth to the central gathering areas. The general arrangement of teaching spaces from first to fourth floor, provides general classrooms to the north elevation, with the larger practical spaces arranged around the east atrium (technology and art department on first and second floors, science on third and fourth floors), sixth form is located above the entrance on the third floor and the SEN department is on the fourth floor with access to the rooftop playground. Located at the ground floor are main hall, activity studio, LRC, dining hall and music department, easily accessible to the public when required. The sports hall is raised up at first floor level, to provide a large, covered playground space below. The façade is constructed using a profiled precast concrete façade system with inlaid brickwork, supported by a lightweight steel frame. This has allowed for fast erection on site while minimising construction site area. The relationship between concrete horizontal cornices and vertical fins and brickwork panels pick up on the language of a Hackney Terrace. The future Crossrail tunnels, size of the building and constrained nature of the site has required an innovative approach. The building footprint has been kept as small as possible to maximise the playground areas, taking advantage of the existing topography to create an amphitheatre playground. As the building is built on a raft slab, in order to build the 5th floor, a basement was incorporated to reduce the overall weight on the tunnels. This project provides a wider contribution to placemaking, improving the social, cultural and economic character of the local area.
Coal Drops Yard
Located within the King’s Cross development, the linear two-storey structures were built in 1850 to receive coal and were later adapted for light industry, storage and nightclubs until they fell into disuse in the late 1990s. The structures were earmarked for retail in the masterplan for the 67-acre site, with the studio brought on board to create two bridges to link the two structures. However, using knowledge gained from designing Hong Kong’s Pacific Place shopping mall, the studio believed the site required a larger intervention to ensure the success of the new retail precinct, to create a place where people could gather and circulate with ease, responding to a changing retail market that is increasingly opting for the creation of an ‘experience’. The gap between the two warehouses was extremely wide – an active space usually requires 10-13 metres between frontages, and the Coal Drops are 26- and 39-metres apart at their extremities. The roofs of both structures were in need of significant repair, providing an opportunity to create a new heart to the site. The resultant design proposed to extend the inner gabled roofs of the warehouses, to link the two viaducts and define the yard, creating 20,000 square feet of additional space on a new upper storey, as well as creating fluid patterns of circulation. The north end of the Grade II-listed Eastern Coal Drop was burnt out in the 1970s so the roof massing was moved to the north where there was minimal existing fabric. The design intervention was carried out with minimal intrusion and without putting weight or load on to the existing buildings. To create an illusion of the two roofs being pulled away and joined together, 52 pairs of columns were threaded through the existing buildings on to new foundations to support the roof. Three steel trusses forming tied arches rest upon one another at the kissing point. From the elevated vantage point, visitors can survey views south to King’s Cross, or north to Cubitt Square. Beneath, the new roof creates a sheltered twenty-metre-high space for people to linger in as well as providing a venue large enough to host concerts or performances. Across Coal Drops Yard, units vary in size (ranging from 160 sq ft, 1300 sq ft, 2500 sq ft to over 20,000 sq ft), accommodating a wide range of established and emerging brands, alongside new restaurants, bars and cafes. Marrying precision engineering with crafted elements, the project combines steel trusses and structural glass together with Victorian materials such as cast iron and slates to create a site-specific texture. The design retains as much as possible on both structures, treating them holistically to celebrate the specific texture and history of the buildings. As the Coal Drops were designed for trains, not people, it was essential to rationalise the ceiling heights throughout and get the inside level to meet with the outside. The project also included a comprehensive yet sensitive restoration of the cobbled yard, which provides permeability with the surrounding busy neighbourhood. Design started in early 2014, with planning approval granted in December 2015. Construction started in early 2016 and completed late 2018.
10 Lewis Cubitt Square
10 Lewis Cubitt Square is a mixed-use building and akey piece of the King’s Cross masterplan, completing an area of the developing neighbourhood and complementing the established public realm. As such, it has an important role as a civic ‘backdrop’ and sits next to the primary retail offer at Coal Drops Yard (to the south), residential neighbours in the Gasholder Triplets (to the south) and the Plimsoll Building (to the west). To the north, Handyside Street separates Lewis Cubitt Park from Lewis Cubitt Square which sits against the building. 10 Lewis Cubitt Square incorporates 195,000 square foot (NIA) of flexible office space over nine floors, and a penthouse mezzanine. In addition, a welcoming and engaging ground floor is created, with a generous office lobby to Lewis Cubitt Square and a characterful cycle entrance on the western elevation to Wollstonecraft Street. To the south, a large flexible retail unit continues the retail journey from Coal Drops Yard and to the north, a flexible cultural space is located, with the flexibility for a future 600-seat theatre with an auditorium capable of a variety of staging configurations. The building’s facade is designed to provide a distinctive but contextual backdrop to Lewis Cubitt Square. A white, honed polished pre-cast concrete frame is embedded with stones and aggregates with colours influenced by the surrounding public realm. This universal system of pre-cast concrete frame is articulated differently throughout the building to create areas of deep facade, as well as a differing vertical and horizontal language between the lower and upper parts of the building. Within the pre-cast concrete frame sits a grain of window and spandrel, designed to maximise views from and daylight into the building. The window framing and spandrel design sits in contrast to the pre-cast concrete and uses an ink-blue hue in reference to the industrial heritage of the site. The ground plane is designed to provide visual and experiential variety and quality to the street experience as well as unify the variety of public uses. The pre-cast concrete facade continues, but gains solidity through wider concrete elements, and the use of solid, fluted concrete elements and integrated benches that encourage the public to approach, and interact with the building. Within this frame, generous, curved oriel bays provide a universal glazing system for retail and theatre. Double and single height oriels are used strategically to add variance to the ground floor experience and to respond to contextual relationships. At fifth floor level, the building sets back to afford greater privacy to the residential neighbours, and to improve daylight and pedestrian experience at street level. This terrace is organised based upon the chevron pattern from Lewis Cubitt Square which defines large areas of planting and soft landscaping that create distinctive areas within the wider terrace. The large and generous terrace is supplemented by a series of planted loggia, within the frame of the building – providing a variety of external amenity at differing building levels.
1-7 Dace Road
An exercise in neighbourhood-building, the masterplanning and detail design for a development of residential and commercial buildings in east London is as much concerned with public spaces as the buildings themselves. 1-7 Dace Road sits within Fish Island Village, a £45m, 2.85ha, mixed-use site on the edge of London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Appointed to design three residential-led buildings and one commercial building at the southwest entrance to Hackney Wick, the project afforded us a rare opportunity to create a new kind of residential scheme, mixing creative and business opportunities to create a development with economic and social resilience. We have worked to achieve a robustness and permanence that reflects the area's historical warehouses, whilst creating a new public realm of public squares, tree-lined streets and commercial yards. New trees have been planted along pedestrian routes between the buildings, leading into a central, landscaped courtyard, providing a new public space and a key pedestrian route at the southwestern gateway to Hackney Wick. Four buildings provide 144 new affordable homes for Southern Housing Group and 6,300m2 (GIA) of commercial space for Hackney Wick’s community of Small to Medium Enterprises at ground floor. Inspired by the converted warehouse from the surrounding area, the buildings are a contemporary mix of brick and glass. The new homes were delivered as 100% affordable, with the first handovers taking place six months ahead of the contract programme.
Bream Street
Located at the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Bream Street delivers regeneration in the Fish Island area through a residential-led, mixed-use development with permeable public space adjacent to the Lee Navigation. The scheme consists of the demolition of an existing post-war commercial building on the south-west corner of the site, site clearance including decontamination, the development of seven new buildings, shared residential amenity spaces, a new public route, and canal side public realm. The Stour Road Building (designed by East Architects), Garden Building, Canal Building, Lock Building and Bream Street Building are predominately residential, while the Employment Building and the Gatehouse Building are exclusively commercial and provide affordable maker space to the wider area. The residential blocks provide 202 new homes and are designed to include a good proportion of homes suitable for families, with three bedrooms and generous terrace spaces. 50% of the family homes are assigned to the affordable rent tenure. The positioning of each building responds to the wider context such as the canal, site permeability, existing trees, street frontage, and key views. Furthermore, building orientation maximises daylight and reduces overshadowing to gardens between the blocks. As a result, the masterplan delivers a series of buildings which are set around three shared gardens and a new internal public street while engaging with the various boundary conditions in a positive way. The masterplan also articulates height so that the taller buildings are located towards the canal and the lower elements towards the historic warehouse buildings. Each building’s architecture is different so that each block has its own aesthetic, character and thereby adds to the richness of the masterplan. The new canalside public realm also provides the wider area with an exciting opportunity and celebrates this historic waterfront. By creating a special place to live and work, Bream Street contributes to the wider regeneration of East London.
Rolling Stock Yard
Rolling Stock Yard is a new development in King’s Cross, London designed as a contemporary response to its industrial setting, providing 57,500 sq ft of workspace for creative small to medium sized businesses. The design concept draws on the area’s history, characterised by the machinations of transport, freight and industry, and now an emerging creative quarter. Converging railway lines and shipping containers are referenced in the nine-storey building, expressed as a series of stacked elements with a black profiled steel structure emulating parallel railway tracks running horizontally across the facades. Full-height glazing is softened by a layer of vertical solid oak sleepers and sinusoidal perforated metal screens to offer privacy and shade during daylight hours, and emit a diffused glow at night. At pavement level the building animates the street with bespoke illuminated entrance signage behind a corrugated metal screen, and a double-height office entrance. Internally, an industrial palette of exposed concrete, blackened steel and perforated aluminium is balanced by a pair of timber-lined recesses for the reception and café. Unifying the space is a grey poured resin floor with inlaid track patterns which define routes from the entrance to the reception, lifts and café. The Rolling Stock Café within the main entrance serves building users and guests, and extends onto the mezzanine level above. The two levels are connected by a folding metal stair, behind which a large-scale commissioned painting by celebrated London artist Barry Reigate provides a playful backdrop. The work is presented as an architectural element within the space, drawing on the local built environment and encouraging people to move around the space to discover different aspects of the painting. Office spaces benefit from natural light on at least three sides, and openable windows allow for natural cross ventilation. Exposed concrete ceilings continue the industrial aesthetic along with suspended lighting tracks. Circulation is marked with a backlit perforated metal screen, leading to the lift lobby and WCs. Designed as superloos, the back wall of each cubicle is lined with natural ply engraved with a pattern depicting freight containers. A 140sqm private roof terrace with planters and feature floor lighting is created on the upper level, offering views across the skyline. 300sqm of roof space is planted with wildflowers and grasses, with 120 solar panels on top of the planted bed and a further 80 on the south façade, providing the building with a sustainable energy source. Responding to the needs of growing companies, the building is presented as an adaptable collection of workspaces with units ranging from 150 to 680sqm. Rolling Stock Yard tenants have access to generous cycle storage, showers, lockers and a reception café and breakout space. Branding and wayfinding were conceived as an evolution of the architecture and interiors concept by the practice’s in-house branding agency. Referencing the railways and freight industry of King’s Cross, a palette of rust orange, blue and white was established, with a graphic identity based on parallel and converging lines.
FCA
After spending over twenty years in their Canary Wharf headquarters, the Financial Conduct Authority decided to relocate to a new single-building home in East London. The goal was to deliver a space that truly represented the ethos of the organisation, with staff wellbeing at the heart. The FCA is a public body funded by the firms it regulates and is accountable to the Treasury and Parliament. Given this accountability, the project had to be delivered with value for money, prudence and practicality throughout. Sustainability and wellbeing were at the heart of the project from initial conception. Close collaboration between the entire professional team, including both client and developer teams was essential in delivering a unique office, bespoke to the FCA requirements, yet extremely flexible to provide future proof accommodation for the next 20 years. The brief was compiled through a series of interviews, workshops and questionnaires and validated by the project Steering Group. The outputs were both technical and visionary, and set out the basis for our concept design. Key principles identified during briefing were: • Clearly defined routes for staff and visitors • Direct route to conference centre and auditorium • Increase flexibility in meeting suite and working floors • Catering offer is a vital staff amenity • Atria should support work and meeting requirements • Achieve the project vision The concept for the interior design was centred around a few core principles: the user experience, staff wellbeing, sustainability and the FCA’s core values of professional excellence – backbone – already on the case - curiosity – strength as a team. Relocating from Canary Wharf to Stratford presented many fears and challenges to staff. These were addressed through an extensive change programme. We engaged with groups from throughout the organisation, including the diversity and accessibility groups. The result is a considered, inclusive environment that suits a diverse body of staff. One key feature output is a suite of non-gender-specific WCs, available to both staff and visitors. The FCA won a 2018 Business Disability Forum Award, for achieving an office move for 3,500 employees which took into account all different types of disability, and in particular, neurodiverse conditions and mental health problems. With a location adjacent to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the connection between the exterior and the interior was incredibly important. Natural light and maximising views were a driver in planning the workspaces. The workplace is split across 11 floors, where a large, centrally located atrium provides visual links. We designed a dramatic staircase to physically connect the floors and encourage movement. The floors have been designed to encourage collaboration, with a typical arrangement allowing for maximum future flexibility of stack and ease of use. BREEAM was the preferred certification route to be in line with the base build design, and the project has received interim certification to meet the Excellent target. Additionally, the FCA has now begun the process of FitWel certification. Sustainability, maintenance and ethical sourcing were are the heart of the specification process. The Perkins+Will precautionary list of materials was used as an aid in product specification, with a view to limit VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and improve indoor air quality. An extensive interior planting programme was designed to reinforce the connection with the outside; and a green roof minimises water run-off and promotes urban biodiversity. Relocating from Canary Wharf to Stratford presented many fears and challenges to staff. These were addressed through an extensive change programme. We engaged with groups from throughout the organisation, including the diversity and accessibility groups. The result is a considered, inclusive environment that suits a diverse body of staff. One key feature output is a suite of non-gender-specific WCs, available to both staff and visitors. The FCA won a 2018 Business Disability Forum Award, for achieving an office move for 3,500 employees which took into account all different types of disability, and in particular, neurodiverse conditions and mental health problems. Bicycle storage and shower facilities are located at ground floor level. A contemplation room is available for staff and visitor use, and a secondary contemplation room is part of the staff wellbeing suite on level three. Approximately 15,000ft2 has been dedicated to a wellbeing suite, inclusive of a Doctor/ nurses’ office, occupational health office, first aid room, contemplation room, library/quiet area, treatment room and gym. Movement is encouraged throughout the day through planning principles and furniture selections. 100% of workstations have motorised sit-stand functionality. The wellbeing programme is predicted to increase productivity over time, and it has been estimated that use of sit-stand desking could save up to £2m over the life of the lease on staff absence due to health related issues. Peter Hewitt-Penfold, Property and Estates Manager, FCA: “From the start, our programme to build the FCA’s new Head Quarters was comprehensive, collaborative and coordinated between all partners. We wanted to embed health and wellbeing throughout our new building and working in tandem with the designers and construction teams, we were able to do just that. We are really excited to be part of Stratford’s regeneration story. We are at the gateway to International Quarter London and proud to enhance the local area’s role as an important sporting, retail, cultural and academic destination.”.
Hawley Wharf
Hawley Wharf transforms an underused piece of city, in the heart of Camden Town, into a vibrant mixed-use development. The project enhances the area’s strong identity and creates a vibrant new quarter for the benefit of the local community, users and visitors alike. Camden is famous for its markets and attracts huge numbers of visitors. It is an area of historic significance and a connection point where roads, railways and canal intersect, resulting in the site’s irregular geometry and complex infrastructural constraints. Prior to development, the site was poorly connected with few access routes across the site. The existing towpath was in a dilapidated condition and the viaducts arches had become known for anti-social behaviour. AHMM was appointed in 2012 to develop a masterplan in consultation with the local community and other stakeholders, who had opposed previous proposals. The full planning application was approved in January 2013. Reserved Matters consent for Hawley School was received in January 2015. The client purchased an additional site adjacent to the Regents Canal, so an application was made to extend the canal-side residential building to incorporate this site, which was approved in September 2015. Hawley Wharf consists of eight new buildings – set amongst the existing railway viaducts – and two refurbished buildings, including the Grade II Listed 1 Hawley Road. The project provides affordable and private homes, a primary school, workplace and retail units, workshops, a cinema and new market buildings. The scheme provided an opportunity to reconnect this under-used site to its surroundings and regenerate the wider area. The new buildings create distinctive spaces, each connected by welcoming streets, accessible open spaces and new public realm. The boundary to the south addressing the Regents Canal and the two viaducts crossing the site, acted as the generators for the complex geometry of the buildings. Requirements for clear access to the viaducts for maintenance generated generous pedestrian routes near the arches, with buildings offset to follow the curves of the viaducts. The irregular geometry of the residential buildings has resulted in a broad range of apartment types. There are 100 apartment types over 195 units which create a unique character. This is further enhanced by the different types of balcony, which both maximise views across the site and offer panoramic views of London. In terms of construction, the residential buildings are made of a concrete superstructure comprising of post-tensioned flat slabs supported on reinforced concrete columns and walls. A particular challenge was the construction of a very deep basement in one of the residential buildings to house the cinema. Due to the close proximity of buildings and structures, along with the sensitivity to movement of adjacent railway viaducts and National Grid assets, the basement was built using a top-down construction method. This allowed the superstructure above to be built at the same time as the basement was excavated, thus shortening the construction programme. Five fire damaged houses on Chalk Farm Road have been converted to create a new high street frontage for the Market Buildings behind. These two new buildings provide a flexible space that can accommodate different tenants and layouts. The lower four storeys consist of open and flexible floorplates for market stalls and are made of a brick wall anchoring the building to the ground completed with an open terracotta fin facade above. The facade acts as a screen concealing the assortment of market units, unifies the building, while allowing views out and light in. A thermally enclosed storey on the second floor provides additional office spaces. On the third floor, two rooftop pavilions, designed for restaurant use, open out to public terraces. Circulation spaces are generously sized, with steel staircases and bridges linking the three buildings. Finishes throughout are high quality and robust to withstand the wear and tear associated with the anticipated high number of visitors. The concrete structure (a mix of in-situ RC and PT slabs with precast columns and Twinwall cores) is left exposed and a very high quality has been achieved through a process of discussion and specification, developed in close partnership with the subcontractor. Honest detailing is expressed very legibly throughout the buildings to give a flexible and robust shell which can adapt to occupiers’ requirements. Hawley School, the first built phase of the masterplan, is a single-form entry school arranged around an intimate central courtyard. The three-storey building’s stepped massing correlates with students’ progression through the learning years. A neutral palette of materials was selected to create a welcoming space, a Flemish bond brickwork facade wraps a warmer Larch glulam timber cloister. There is a common palette of materials across the site which references the local context. Each building in the masterplan, relates to its immediate setting and forms part of a coherent family with clear commonalities and differences expressed through the use of colour and detailing. New routes linking north-south and east-west, to follow pedestrian desire lines, were created to meet anticipated visitor numbers. Certain routes will be closed to the public after hours to address safety concerns in an area which has a history of crime and anti-social behaviour. Acting as the unifying spine across the site, thirty of the viaduct arches have been enclosed to create retail units, with a simple palette of glazed curtain wall to the fronts and mezzanine levels, with brick infills to the rear. Steel table-top structures with a timber floor have been inserted where possible. The arches have been lined to protect against damp permeating from the brick viaduct structures, and then finished with ply boards left exposed for tenants to fit out. The project was completed in March 2019. By stitching the site back into its surroundings, Hawley Wharf, rejuvenates Camden and creates a new destination accessible to all.
Here East
Here East is the transformation of the former Press and Broadcast Centres on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into 1.2 million sq ft of space for the creative and digital industries. It is a dedicated place for individuals and companies who embrace and pioneer cutting-edge technology capitalising on some of the fastest broadband speeds in Europe. The two huge buildings were re-purposed to provide spaces ranging from a data centre, broadcast studios and innovation centre at one end of the scale, to new cafes and individual artists’ studios at the other. The flexible workspace was designed to promote collaboration between start-ups and more established businesses, with universities co-located to stimulate innovation through their research and development programmes. An external full-height steel gantry, originally built to support air conditioning units during the games, has been re-purposed as a framework to support artists’ studios which have been innovatively designed and constructed using Wikihouse open-source technology. To make environmental and commercial sense of the 850,000 sq ft former Broadcast Centre, the building was imagined as a ‘crust’ and a ‘core’. The windowless façade was removed to create a 16m deep outer layer with two additional storeys of flexible work, studio and retail spaces around the perimeter of the building - maximising natural daylight, ventilation and views. This was achieved by replacing the centre’s solid façades with glazed curtain walling featuring a ‘dazzle’ pattern frit carefully tuned to the required solar performance. The scale of the Broadcast Centre provided opportunity to create generous floor to ceiling heights and impressive atria. Each reception is generous, accessible and open and has its own character based on industry; the steel mill, the timber yard and the fabric factory. These materials are expressed in reception desks, furnishings and suspended meeting pods. Bright orange wayfinding signage was designed in parallel with the branding for the whole project. The signage features a disrupted font, referencing the disruptive patterns on the façade and the role of disruption in the innovative tech industries. The heart of the deep plan was converted into state of the art broadcast studios for BT Sport and the data centre. The Press Centre interiors lacked the creative character that was being developed across the site. Interventions include exposing the ceiling services throughout the ground floor and creating the enlivened canal side retail frontage from the previous low ceiling offices. The ground floor of the Press Centre now hosts a changing programme of cultural events. In May 2017, a digital archaeology exhibition called '64 Bits' showcased the evolution of the web over 25 years on computers of the era and attracted over 4,000 visitors on one month along with teaching coding skills to over 500 children. Currently the Cloud Cuckoo Land Gallery, with artist Gavin Turk in residence is running an exhibition called Exquisite Garden. This area is open to the public and is regularly visited by schools. The new site is shared between various University College London (UCL) departments, including the Bartlett School of Architecture, and Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. It is here that robots and people come together within a unique and innovative centre for interdisciplinary research, teaching and training in architectural, engineering, heritage and performance-based futures. The brief called for a facility which would support a diverse number of activities, from controlled laboratory work to design studios. A key part of the brief was the need for visibility across the entire facility to encourage collaboration and innovation between the various departments. The co-location of facilities offers UCL opportunities to develop new research, teaching and enterprise programmes, supported by an innovative, unique and flexible building. Both the UCL and Loughborough University work with third party providers to run education streams into local schools and host future opportunity programmes on campus. Here East hosts numerous education events from code clubs, science summer schools and introduction events for young people. Here East is innately sustainable due to retaining and reusing most of the existing structure, building envelope and main HVAC systems designed as the Olympic Media Hub for the 2012 Games. The project savours key sustainable elements of the original project such as the photovoltaic panels integrated with the living roof on the Press Centre to generate electricity and to encourage local biodiversity. The regeneration of the site ties in with the legacy of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park by connecting into existing sustainable transport and energy system connections and charging up the public realm. The provision of retail and restaurant facilities creates a lively and fun destination for passers-by. Here East favours independent businesses to stimulate the local economy and place more focus on local produce. The Press Centre’s vast first floor roof terrace is planted with fruit bearing trees and this fruit is already being used by the cafes and restaurants below. Located on a car free area and within a short walk of the velodrome, aquatics centre and other sports facilities from the Games, the Here East campus has low levels of CO2. Here East was conceived, enabled and delivered within five years from initial expression of interest to project delivery. Fundamental to the successful delivery was a highly phased sectional completion strategy, enabling the earliest handover to committed tenants. BT Sport were in occupation and broadcasting throughout the construction phase. The project was designed in collaboration with the Built Environment Access Panel, set up to ensure Olympic legacy projects are inclusive and accessible; disability charity Scope are now tenants. Here East has met targets for local employment and through Loughborough University on-site, so far 20 young people from the local community are studying for a masters level degree for free. The innovation that will continue to be developed at Here East is fostering growth and diversity across the UK, providing a fitting legacy to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Holloway Prison
The proposal for the site of the former Holloway Prison will create an integrated and reconnected residential masterplan with 985 new homes. 60% of these will be affordable, including 415 for social rent, together with a 1.4-acre public park, and an exemplary Women’s Building. The 4.16-hectare site was used as a prison from the 1850s. As the city has developed around, the site has become increasingly disconnected and isolated from the surrounding urban fabric. The masterplan reconnects the site to the city and stitches it back into the urban grain, creating new routes and framing a new public park which retains and celebrates the existing trees of the prison gardens. The primary vision for the site is to provide high quality homes and spaces that are connected to the surrounding area and retain the green heart of the existing landscape, opening up the historic site to the public for the first time. The masterplan retains many of the best existing trees on the site, some of which pre-date the contemporary prison and are a living memory of the site’s history. In addition, 364 new trees will be planted alongside the existing mature trees. The masterplan is divided into five different plots (Plots A–E), creating 15 buildings with distinct characters and a variety of public spaces and play space for all ages. As a part of the historical legacy a Women’s Building is proposed in the most prominent location in the masterplan. The Women’s Building is the result of extensive engagement with stakeholders and the community. The plan form is intelligently arranged into four distinct and self-contained ‘quadrants’, ensuring long term flexibility and viability by enabling adequate privacy and separation between different parts of the building. This enables a wide range of uses to take place in a range of spaces, to serve different users, over different periods of time and over longer periods of the day/week. Each building arranges homes around shared centrally located stairs and lifts, reducing corridors lengths, in an efficient and organised plan. The introduction of additional facade shaping improves aspect, views and natural ventilation. The homes benefit from excellent internal light for all tenures. The articulated corners have the benefit of separating balconies, while allowing the prime window for each living space to have an unshaded view. Each of the five plots employs a distinct material palette that responds directly to the existing context, and the selection of materials has been carefully influenced by the existing neighbourhood with the aim of complementing the adjacent properties.
Silk Park, Hendon
The Silk Park scheme is rooted both in the history of the site and its natural setting in Hendon, London. It transforms what is currently a standard big-box store surrounded by tarmac into a new 2 acre neighbourhood park open to the Silk Stream, and a newly activated street frontage, with a state-of-the-art Sainsbury’s and residential haven gardens above. Located at the confluence of the Silk Stream and Edgware Road, and a short walk from Hendon Station, on the former site of the famous Duple factory, the layout is a dynamic combination of formal and informal geometries; following both the straight line of the Roman road and the soft curve of the stream. The 12 diverse buildings range from four to twenty-eight stories and are harmonised through a common architectural language. Of these, the tallest is a local landmark; set back from the street, greeting those arriving in the park, and enriching the skyline as seen from both directions. The use of scale, subtle variation in materiality, texture, colour and detailing ensures that the buildings each have a unique language that responds to their specific location within the site. Generous lobbies, gateways and individual dwellings activate the street and park edge, with indoor-outdoor cafes forming the transition from urban to natural setting. Meanwhile the entrance to the new Sainsbury’s is expressed by a grand colonnade which creates a civic frontage, in dialogue with the historic Magistrates Court opposite. Above all else, the heart of the project is the park; centerpiece of a playful and playable landscape, with lawns, taller planting , a dramatic water feature and a wilderness walk along the Silk Stream; all playing their part in the wider green network of Hendon, bringing back into safe public use the riverside as a green community amenity and pedestrian corridor linking the site with the wider area of the Welsh Harp Reservoir. Key features of the project include: • New 2 acre South facing park, with playable landscape • New access to Silk Stream wilderness walk • 1.2 acres additional of public open space • 1.6 acres additional haven gardens above supermarket • Civic arcade, active frontages • Gateway loggias facing South • References to rural and industrial history • Contrast between busy and peaceful zones • Diverse architecture • Responsive geometries • New enriched skyline • Natural response to topography • Sustainable infrastructure for waste and energy; ‘suds’, air-source-heat-pumps. • Safeguarded future pedestrian bridge route to Hendon Station • Dialogue with Barnet informing their Tall Buildings Strategy St George and Sainsbury’s gained detailed planning approval from LB Barnet in 2020; providing 1309 dwellings, of which 35% are affordable (by habitable room), a new 9,000 sqm supermarket, with elevated gardens above accessible to all tenures, 950 sqm of flexible commercial space and hidden servicing and car parking. The buildings are designed to be tenure blind. The proposals contribute to aspirations of Barnet, Brent and TFL to reimagine the former Roman road as a pedestrian-friendly urban boulevard and a green residential corridor, and to augment and link together the surrounding green network. The project has involved an exemplary process of collaboration and dialogue with the local community, with Barnet, the GLA, Canal & Rivers Trust and the EA.
Soho Theatre Walthamstow
Pilbrow & Partners were appointed by the London Borough of Waltham Forest and Soho Theatre to restore the former Granada Walthamstow Cinema – a Grade II* listed building and a landmark of Twentieth-Century Moorish architecture. Originally opened in 1930 and designed by Cecil Aubrey Masey with interiors by famed stage designer Theodore Komisarjevsky, the Granada offered local audiences a rich spectacle of escapism and glamour. The restoration adopts an approach of Arrested Decay, preserving and layering the building’s history rather than erasing it. Its grandeur has been faithfully revived, while its periods of decline and neglect have been retained as powerful expressions of its resilience and identity. The result is a theatre that honours the full sweep of the building’s past, reflecting both its cultural legacy and Walthamstow’s transformation into London’s first ‘Borough of Culture’. The cinema opened with 2,700 seats and was considered a beacon of cinematic opulence. Damaged in 1944 by a flying bomb, the façade’s gable - lost for decades - has now been restored, marking the entrance and reintroducing the building to Hoe Street’s historic topography. Inside, original plasterwork inspired by the Alhambra has been carefully conserved alongside layers of paint from subsequent decades, celebrating its evolving identity. Following its post-war decline as a cinema, the building found new life as a music venue, hosting legendary performers including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Johnny Cash. This era is commemorated in the foyer’s design palette, which subtly echoes the vibrancy of its musical past. Later layers of history - such as the mint greens and blues from the early 2000s Bollywood screenings under EMD ownership - have also been preserved. These tones form a rich visual patina, atop the deeper strata of the original 1930s saturated maroons and forest greens, each hue a testament to the building’s evolving identity. Closed since 2003, the building appeared on several national ‘at risk’ registers. In 2018, Waltham Forest Council acquired the site following a strong community campaign. Their vision, shared with Soho Theatre, was to restore it not as a neutral backdrop but as a theatre that actively celebrates its richly layered story. Pilbrow & Partners worked closely with the Council and Soho Theatre to transform the building. Sensitive interventions were made to adapt it for live performance: the previously divided auditorium has been re-unified into a single 960-seat venue; new dressing rooms, a fly tower, and improved sightlines were introduced to support contemporary theatre needs, while maintaining the building’s architectural integrity. The restored theatre will be the cornerstone of an emerging arts quarter. Alongside the performance space, the building now offers shops, cafés, community foyers, and education facilities. This project represents a unique model of restoration and reuse, balancing heritage with transformation. It reclaims a treasured building not as a monument to the past, but as a living symbol of cultural renewal. Pilbrow & Partners is proud to have played a part in returning this remarkable building to the community as a beacon of creativity, diversity, and pride.
Bang Bang Oriental Food Hall
Bang Bang Oriental Food Hall is an eco-friendly venue that has bought a pan Asian culinary experience and cultural entertainment concept to London. Bang Bang has a food court, restaurant, shopping experience and community space all under one roof. With 33 individual kiosks offering a mix of Chinese, Korean , Indian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Taiwanese and Malaysian cuisine. The sophisticated and affordable food court, seating up to 450 guests will bring the energy and authentic vibe of an Asian street food market. The Bang Bang concept layers a contemporary filter over the pan Asian culinary experience. The design emphasis is on clean lines and eastern minimalism utilising robust natural materials and a muted pallet that is peppered with the colours of the orient. Timber is celebrated and the signature diagonal tiling draws the Bang Bang brand into the architecture. The new food court is built on the site of the Oriental food court in Colindale, North London. Occupying a modern warehouse building, created by Sheppard Robson Architects, on the Edgware Road with a striking diagonal facade. The entrance from Edgware Road is through a large steel framed ornate cedar screen forming the traditional gate way into the entrance hall. The entrance hall forms the access from the car park and Edgware Road and the Golden Dragon restaurant on the ground floor. The ceiling is lined in stained timber with timber down stand beams mimicking the construction of Asian housing. Access to the main food hall is by a feature stair to the first floor lined in purpose made black glazed tiles installed on the diagonal forming a processional route with Chinese lanterns indicating the route. On the first floor one arrives at the large open hall. The food hall has been designed with reference to traditional Asian building design, materials and colour. A mezzanine floor has been inserted to the rear of the hall that is accessed by a feature blackened steel stair lined in a blacked steel balustrade. The mezzanine level houses consulting rooms, plant and administration offices. The food hall extends below the mezzanine creating two distinct areas a high hall and a lower back dining area. The main elevation of the mezzanine forms a back drop to the high food hall and is formed in a timber slatted screen fixed to a Chinese red acoustic backed fabric. Kiosks are constructed around the perimeter of the open courtyard filled with natural light and to the space below the mezzanine. A temporary stage can be constructed using the dining tables, purpose built so they can be pinned together with gantry lighting overhead. Each kiosk is framed in a traditional timber construction found in Asia bolted to form a framework of varying sizes unified with the stained timber of the framework and dark stained counter fronts with honed black granite tops lipped in brass. Bespoke jade tiles set on the diagonal line the divisions to the kiosks adding a traditional Asian element to the design. The kiosks are serviced from service corridors to the rear of the units. Purpose made traditional-style fabric lanterns line the front of the kiosks to the main hall. Natural materials have been selected through out, each referenced to Asia, installed in a contemporary manner whilst drawing reference to the Asian tradition. Island kiosks have been constructed framed in stained timber and illuminated opal panel to reference Japanese shoji screens with blackened steel gantries for signage and lighting constructed in an Asian style. The exciting hub will also be home to the stylish Golden Dragon flagship restaurant. The 300-cover restaurant will offer dim sum lunches and an extensive traditional Chinese menu in the evening. Lined in stained burr maple and traditional Chinese lacquered panel with light coffers to the private dining room lined in gold leaf and cedar coffered ceiling to the main dining room. The bar is formed in brass with a forest green granite walls to the bar and countertop. A bespoke carpet in gold and black runs through out the restaurant based on a traditional Chinese pattern. Bang Bang Oriental is a green iniative and features state of the art technology such as bio fuel cylinder (Rothenburg) which will collect food waste for energy regeneration and heat taken from the cold rooms of adjoining supermarket to power the heating and cooling via heat exchangers to Bang Bang.
Central House
The refurbishment and extension of the former Cass School of Art and Architecture provides over 150,000 square feet of office space. Located opposite the Whitechapel Gallery, it takes inspiration from Rachel Whiteread’s Fourth Plinth, adding to the existing six storey building with an equal volume above. The new build element mimics the horizontal banding and the rhythm of the panels of the 1960s concrete building but contrasts this with a steel structure and dark metal palette. Tension between old and new is highlighted by a setback floor marked out by a playful piece of public art visible from the street to create a visual break. This space forms one of several external spaces, including a large planted terrace at roof level and shared multi-use amenity space for the building users.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium heralds a new era for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and has created a major landmark for both Tottenham and London. With a capacity of 62,062, the new stadium becomes the biggest club stadium in London and, by incorporating a fully retractable pitch, the first in the world to be custom built to stage football and NFL games. The stadium will host its first NFL game in Autumn 2019, showcasing its unique ability to accommodate the technical and operational requirements of the world’s two most popular sports. The retractable pitch will also enable the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to host concerts and a range of other events, fulfilling the club’s ambition to create a major sports and entertainment destination that will support the on-going regeneration of Tottenham, 365 days a year. The stadium has been designed to generate one of the best match day atmospheres in the world, with uninterrupted sightlines and spectators closer to the pitch than at any comparable ground in the UK. The stands are angled at 35 degrees — the steepest angle that UK guidelines recommend — to create a tighter, atmospheric stadium bowl which focusses towards the southern ‘home end’, where 17,500 spectators will come together to generate a ‘wall of sound’ in the largest single-tier stand in the UK. The areas at the front of the stand, as well as the away support’s section, have been future-proofed for safe standing, with a first-of-its-kind design that gives equal precedence to safety and comfort. The rows of seating are separated by an ergonomically profiled bar set at 900mm for clear sight lines. Each of the seats, which provide the same levels of comfort and legroom as in all other areas of the stadium, is fitted with a lock to ensure it can be securely fixed in the upright position. A concert-hall inspired acoustic set-up, which amplifies the noise inside the stadium, will add to the atmosphere and spectator experience. Wireless connectivity is available across the venue and will enable fans inside the stadium to connect with and share their live event experiences with other fans across the globe. The stadium’s sculpted façade comprises 4,801 perforated steel panels, which wrap their way around the stadium before reaching the home end, where a glass façade arches upwards to reveal the huge single-tier home stand, and a curved roof, which melds together with the stadium structure to create a graceful and elegant clean cover over the seating bowl. A five-storey high glass atrium at the south end will provide a new meeting place for home supporters before and after the match including an open food court bathed in natural light. This spectacular entrance provides a glimpse of life within the stadium and has been designed to create a sense of arrival from the station. Populous’ design responds to Tottenham Hotspur’s brief to create memorable experiences for its supporters and everyone else who visits the multi-use stadium. To achieve this, unrivalled views of live Premier League action have been supplemented with a vast range of food and drink, retail and premium experiences, which will add to the matchday experience.
The Old Forge
The 19th century Old Forge, nestled in the green belt around London, has undergone a stunning transformation from a dilapidated former forge to a two-bedroom family home. The building, originally built in the 1840s as an ancillary building to a main house, was later converted into an electrical power station in the 1950s. Despite its dire state of disrepair, with a tree growing inside, the original building was not big but allowed for clever reconfiguration to be converted into a family home. The design concept was to retain as much of the original forge-related elements as possible, including the large format windows, the two fireplaces, and the roof support structure. The fireplaces were redesigned to suit a residential use, and the roof support structure was exposed to showcase the beautiful trusses. The new spiral staircase added to the forged look. To convert the building from its agricultural use to a residential one, a series of surveys were required, including a dusk survey, a historical survey, and a tree survey. The planning approval process was elaborate, and it was necessary to retain all original features of the building within the listed cartilage and conservation area. The two bedrooms, each with ensuite bathroom facilities, a living room, a kitchen, and a cloakroom were all carefully designed and every corner and junction of new and old was investigated. The rear garden was dug to create ample outdoor space with a water feature. The client’s attention to detail was evident, with the addition of a small light in the reinstated chimney and a special bee brick for local bees to nest. The Old Forge has been reborn as a stunning two-bedroom family home, showcasing the beauty of the original building and the potential of old, dilapidated structures. The unique design and attention to detail make it a standout project that is sure to impress those who visit it.
Quayside Quarter
Project description Designated as a Locally Strategic Industrial Site (LSIS) which formed part of the Southall OAPF, the former Honey Monster Factory site provided a unique opportunity to deliver an ‘exemplar-in-design’, mixed-use scheme, successfully combining industrial employment uses within a residential led neighbourhood. EPR Architects innovative masterplan proposals for ‘Quayside Quarter’ will transform this locally significant, yet underused industrial site into a new, vibrant neighbourhood providing in excess of 28,000m² of industrial-focused creative employment space in addition to 1,997 new homes. In total, 35% of the scheme will be delivered as affordable, making a valuable contribution to the boroughs annual housing requirement whilst providing significant employment opportunities and increased earning potential for local people. Shortlisted for the ‘Award for Design Excellence’ in the 2020 Planning Awards, Quayside Quarter obtained resolution to grant planning permission in September 2019. Within our role, EPR led and coordinated a multidisciplinary team including three additional architecture practices; working with both the London Borough of Ealing and the GLA to design a truly mixed-use environment with distinctive character. The site’s proximity to Southall’s new Crossrail station, combined with the opportunity to improve local bus services and cycle ways, ensures that people living and working in Quayside Quarter will be remarkably well-connected to the employment and business opportunities in London and beyond. The final masterplan combines quality homes in addition to significant employment intensification including a creative filming hub and well-connected and high-quality public realm which celebrates the presence of the historical canal to provide a new vibrant neighbourhood.
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Open in Atlas MapFrequently Asked Questions
How long does the London architecture walking tour take?+
The self-guided walking tour covers approximately 17.2 km with 3 stops. Allow approximately 5 hours including 20 minutes of viewing time per building.
Is the London architecture tour free?+
Yes, this is a completely free self-guided walking tour. You can view the route on the interactive map, export it to Google Maps for navigation, and explore at your own pace.
Do I need to book the London architecture tour in advance?+
No booking is required — this is a self-guided tour that you can start at any time. All buildings can be viewed from the outside. For guided tours with expert commentary, we recommend checking GetYourGuide for local architecture tours.
What is the best time to do the London architecture walking tour?+
Morning light (before 11am) is ideal for photography of building facades. Weekdays tend to be less crowded around commercial buildings. Allow a full half day for the complete tour.