Jack’s Place, Spitalfields London

Just before Christmas we were very pleased to be able to complete on time and on budget, a new London Headquarters for Context, an internationally renowned Corporate Responsibility Consultancy.

Context were previously based in the Old Street area of London, but in response to their expanding workload, looked east to the dynamic area of Spitalfields for a new larger home, and found a stunning live-work space overlooking the historic market area.

The fast track project took only six weeks to complete, during which time the whole space was refurbished and re-organised, to provide a new layout that works with both the existing roof form and the prominent timber structure to create a relaxed but distinctive working environment.

New timber framed glazing complements the existing roof trusses to enclose the main meeting room, the creation of a large reception and office area fronting the main road, improves the quality of natural light, whilst a brightly finished feature wall, effectively divides the working space from the self contained apartment beyond.

Happy New Year… Project Update : D Cube City, Korea

We hope you all had a wonderful break and are looking forward to the coming New Year as much as we are.

We will be working on a number of exciting projects through the first half of 2012, however due to commercial sensitivities, I’m afraid I’m unable to give you specifics at this time. Suffice to say they include restaurants, retail and residential schemes.

But what better reason do you need to keep returning to the pages of our blog, as we will endeavour to release details as and when we can over the coming months…

In the meantime here are some images from one of the key projects that has kept us busy over the last few months…

D CUBE CITY, Department Store in Korea

Working as part of JHP’s design and concept team, we worked up to design intent stage, 6 retail floors of a huge, 350,000m² mixed use development project in Seoul, South Korea. This major landmark scheme includes offices, apartments, a hotel, retail malls, as well as a performance hall and a convention center.

The project is now complete and open for business and our ideas can be seen in action across the lower two restaurant floors as well as a number of the upper retail floors including Children’s, Women’s Casual and Men’s Fashion.

 

Hall Toll: A new dining experience for Stavanger, Norway

We are very pleased to announce the opening of our latest restaurant, Hall Toll, which saw its first diners through the doors in the Southern Norwegian City of Stavanger a few weeks ago.

Constructed in the early 20th Century and occupying a central quayside location, Hall Toll, a former customs warehouse, is a prominent and popular local landmark and a fine example of Norwegian maritime heritage architecture in what is known as the Nyromansk style.

The finishes and colour palettes proposed by H&D were chosen to both respect and accentuate the existing traditional materials, whilst still creating an exciting and contemporary dining experience.

Inside the space has been designed to be as open and flexible as possible, with slatted timber and coloured glass screens being used to define three visually distinct zones: the restaurant dining area, finished in subtle and relaxing wood and ivory tones, the bar and casual dining area with its more lively reds and oranges and softer furnishings, and finally the kitchen and preparation areas which are open to the diners and as such, have been designed to be seen.

In fact, the choice of materials throughout the project is intended to reflect the strong vernacular aspect of the existing building: polished stainless steel, walnut and brickwork all emphasise the key design principle of leaving as much of the existing shell untouched, whilst the inclusion of bold, oversized and bright furniture forms, contrasts very effectively with the functional language of Hall Toll’s former industrial heritage.

So far feedback from the first few weeks has been very positive, so if you have plans to go to Stavanger, be sure to check it out and let us know what you think.

As an aside, when Mike was over in Norway for the opening, he was absolutely astounded when two huge ships came right into the harbour and into the heart of the city. To say they dominated the whole area was something of an understatement, especially to a Londoner more used to small scale passenger boats crawling up and down the Thames…

Greetings from SW17

Welcome to this, our first post on our new blog.

We are a small, but perfectly formed architectural and design practice based in the cobbled streets of Iliffe Yard, near London’s Elephant & Castle.

Our current workload encompasses contemporary restaurants, private houses, cutting edge retail and large scale airport projects, many of which are overseas. We are fortunate to have a wide interest and skill base within the office however, and given the opportunity, we would be very happy designing other building types as well…

This purpose of this blog will no doubt develop over time, but we initially envisage it as a place to write about projects we’re working on, highlighting development and concept ideas that might otherwise be lost, about things that we like and that make us smile, whilst occasionally perhaps being moved to write about more contentious aspects that generate debate within the office.

So sit back and enjoy our efforts over the coming months, and if you have anything to add, please do not hesitate to contact us, by either commenting through WordPress below or by visiting our web site here and sending us a message direct.