Project description

On a beautiful cobbled street just off Carnaby St, our challenge was to create a series of workspaces which both reflected the understated elegance of a listed town house whilst capturing some of the humour and personality of Soho. Workspace refurbishment projects often generate lots of waste – each new tenant rips out bathrooms, floors, kitchens and lights and starts again, meaning the lifespan of these elements is a lot shorter than it could and should be.

In response to this, we approached this project with a clear set of design principals.

1. Design it well, design it once.Beautiful, robust and flexible design lasts longer.

2. Keep what you can.We have kept the existing floor boards and radiators, minimising waste wherever possible.

3. Specify sustainable materials. We worked with Altrock Surfaces on all the cast elements of the project, including the hallway floor, fireplaces and tiling. The carpet is made using old fishing nets and recycled plastic bottles.

During the strip out, we found that each floor had an original cast iron fireplace with a subtly different design – a remnant of the previous domestic use of the building. To celebrate this, we added a series of bespoke cast fireplace surrounds that give each room a personality focal point.