PROJECT REPORT: ADAPTIVE REUSE 41


crafted buildings of that area.” They were determined to be as “faithful as possible to the Georgian architecture,” so rather than the incongruous roof terrace that had been created the designers said “let the bees have the roof, and we’ll do you a lovely terrace on the lower floors.” Morriss adds: “There was a real commitment from the client to follow that logic.”


He says this conscious effort to craft the spaces fed into the goals which the client has in its ethical business, and which it wanted to embody in the building, including the idea of the beehive, and of “working together towards a common good.” The hive theme emerged early on, he says, and became the “DNA of what that space would be about, and not just a motif.”


Flagstones were installed in the hallway, reinstated to complement the original retained exposed stone staircase, and the “very strange” front door was replaced; it was previously metal made to look Georgian – “I can’t help think it was to keep the planners out!,” says Morriss with a smile. Other key fittings and details include terrazzo formed basins and intricate detailing on the stairs and floor finishes.


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Trevor Morriss says that SPPARC make a concerted effort to “work with and listen to” conservation bodies and statutory authorities to ensure a harmonious design process.


A hive of connections The building has had its second and third levels restored, but at the same time SPPARC worked to link as many of the spaces as possible, chiefly using the part- refurbished stair that curls its way through the building, but also critically using the new social hub in the extension created at ground floor level.


Introducing a focal point of a central


hub, which was to result in the unique structural honeycomb timber and glass roof to the extension, was the project’s key feature since the early stages of the concept design. But this is not only as an aesthetic flourish but also as a functional means to bring light to the lower ground floor rented space (the tenant is a social enterprise tackling homelessness).


The extension replaced a typically ostentatious 1990s ‘conservatory’-style glazed pyramid (which, says Morriss, “ironically had planning permission,”


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The hexagonal structure is no mere design conceit, says Morriss; “It’s not just a piece of glass with decoration below, it’s a structural shape doing a job; too often you see something which is just cladding”


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