Location: London
Sector: Mixed use/ Office
Client: Confidential
Architect: Alexander Martin Architects
Main Contractor: Rackham Construction
Value: £35K
Duration: 36 months
Size: 9,000 sq. ft
Photography: Peter Cook
The recently completed CAT A refurbishment and extension of three Victorian warehouse-style buildings 82-84 Berwick Street offers approximately 7,336 sq ft of contemporary media style office accommodation flooded with daylight. A few minutes walk to London Chinatown, Soho Gardens and some of the finest shopping addresses in London like the Liberty, the Berwick Works is located right in the beating heart of London’s Soho.
The mixed use development scheme Berwick Works was designed by the London based architecture and interior design studio Alexander Martin Architects. The development celebrates the rich textile heritage of the building, whilst adding bold contemporary features and colour pallette.
Built between 1687 and 1703, Berwick street has a long history of ‘rag trade’ with a unique hotpotch of fabric shops offering new and old. Designed for a light industrial use, with tenants like fabric merchants, 82-84 Berwick Street were originally three 4 storey buildings with a lower ground floor. The re-development features two additional floors plus a further extension to the back and side of the building as well as two roof terraces offering fantastic views full of urban hustle and bustle.
Built between 1687 and 1703, Berwick street has a long history of ‘rag trade’ with a unique hotpotch of fabric shops offering new and old. Designed for a light industrial use, with tenants like fabric merchants, 82-84 Berwick Street were originally three 4 storey buildings with a lower ground floor. The re-development features two additional floors plus a further extension to the back and side of the building as well as two roof terraces offering fantastic views full of urban hustle and bustle.
In February 2015, the AMA were appointed as the architect on the redevelopment of the 82-84 Berwick Street. The key objective was to extend the office space and maximise the retail space of the development whilst creating a new separate entrance to the office space on upper floors.
Marcela Pomphrey – Marketing Director
Our team was approached by AMA in 2016 with a lighting design specification. Working closely with the architectural studio and the main contractor, we conducted several site meetings followed by a full office lighting design and calculations, making sure the correct lighting products including emergency lighting have been specified for all areas to meet the current BCO Guidelines. In total, 60 hours of lighting design were used to support this project.
Maximising the daylight and introducing quality office and architectural lighting meeting current lighting standards (the BCO Lighting guide) was only part of the story. The design brief was driven by a subtle interplay of the original Victorian building and the contemporary design of the new mixed development scheme. The design objective was to create a contemporary workspace with understated features like white wall lighting on white painted brickworks, high quality finishes throughout, all beautifully connecting the old with the new.
Maximising the daylight and introducing quality office and architectural lighting meeting current lighting standards (the BCO Lighting guide) was only part of the story. The design brief was driven by a subtle interplay of the original Victorian building and the contemporary design of the new mixed development scheme. The design objective was to create a contemporary workspace with understated features like white wall lighting on white painted brickworks, high quality finishes throughout, all beautifully connecting the old with the new.
At ground floor level, the new circulation space was created providing access to open office spaces occupying each floor of the building. Thanks to the extensive redevelopment, the new reception area is boasting an impressive 6.4m ceiling height and is flooded in natural daylight. Harnessing the power of the natural light, the artificial lighting in this space has been designed with a minimalist approach. The staircase area is subtly illuminated by Talla Wall Mounted luminaires. With its timeless design and button like- appearance it compliments the white painted brick interior and visually connects to the textile industry heritage of the building.
The reception area is lit by recessed trimless downlights and further enhanced with recessed spot lights equipped with movement sensors.
In the open plan office space across the entire CAT A scheme, the designer’s favourite Rio Suspended Direct was used as the general office lighting. Rio is the ultimate performance driven linear lighting with a contemporary clean-cut design, creating beautiful lines of light and providing comfortable lighting for the user. The Rio linear profiles were specified in several standard sizes and equipped with a micro prismatic diffuser.
In the larger offices, Wey Track lighting was used to provide visual features, giving the future tenants an opportunity to break up the space with more informal seating or collaboration areas. In the smaller offices, recessed downlights were used to provide illumination giving the user the freedom to personalise the space with ambience lighting of their own choice.
All linear and track lighting was specified and supplied in a contemporary matte black finish, enhancing the contemporary interior design and the dark colour scheme.
Most luminaires were supplied as non-dimmable. The non-dimmable luminaires had their output adjusted at the factory, so that they were suitable for the project. Some luminaires were supplied with DALI-Dim. External PIRs were used for energy saving and automated switching. Integrated emergency lighting was supplied in the main office areas and standalone emergency lighting on all other areas.
The result is a great looking contemporary CAT A workplace designed to the very last detail. Both the office and architectural lighting blend in, allowing the actual building and its finishes to become the centre of attention. With a subtle colour scheme and distinctive interior design, Berwick Works is a premium mixed use development, attractive to future tenants looking to take up media-style office accommodation.
Contact our project team to find out more!
Bristol: +44 (0)117 9422512
London: +44 (0)203 7737530
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