CLIENT FILE 097


Left Berry Bros & Rudd’s warehouse shop in Basingstoke maintains its signature aesthetic of wood furnishings and lit bottles


Below Lighting in the warehouse, an example of Mowat & Company’s seamless amalgamation of old and new styles


made), which had had a very recognisable, traditional noise. So when our customers visited the new space, hearing that bell took them right back in their minds to the old shop. We’re trying to create spaces with lasting power – spaces that are relevant rather than fashionable. We’re interested in projects that are designed to wear in rather than wear out – for example, our shop is three-years-old, and we know that the oak floor won’t look its best for another 20 or 30 years. We want things to last, as we are always thinking about handing the company down the generations.


What particular challenges did the office redesign present?


Our offices are an extraordinary collection of 12 buildings dating back many centuries – we’ve even got one of the walls from Henry VIII’s tennis court – that were all pulled together in rather a Heath Robinson way. We needed to make sure that the spaces worked for the business we are today, as well as respecting the fabric of the historic buildings. So we were keen to make sure that the materials we chose would wear in better over time.


We took down some partitions that had been put up in the 1960s and 70s so that people could work together in a more collaborative way. Lighter and brighter with much better storage, the office spaces are curated so that they are a pleasure to be in.


progressive that was also sympathetic to the heritage of the building, which we wanted to enhance rather than dilute. Most recently, Mowat & Company has redesigned our offices in St James’s.


How is your brand expressed in your new spaces?


We’re certainly aiming for a combination of the old and the new by creating spaces that feel progressive and cutting edge, but also take the best of the past, whether materials or small details that could be invisible to many. For example, in our new shop, we asked the Whitechapel Bell Foundry to make a new bell that evoked our old one (which they had also


Do you enjoy the creative process? I absolutely love the creative process. It’s the responsibility of the client to find an architect or designer who really does think in the same way that they do, and truly wants to be collaborative – sometimes they might say they do but don’t really mean it. Fortunately, we do have that relationship with Alex, who is very good at managing our expectations and ambitions for the budgets we have. From a personal point of view, it can be frustrating when you get very deep into a meeting on a particular issue and don’t have the vocabulary to communicate on a highly technical level. But even though it can be tricky, it’s still a fascinating process.


Do you have any further ventures in the pipeline?


We always have a few small feasibility projects on the go. Longer term, the ambition is to make sure we’re delivering environments that best suit our staff and customers – and that’s an endless project.


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