045
YOU HAVE TO BE brave when refitting a landmark 20th-century civic space with an edgy, 21st-century eco aesthetic. If the principle of a true low-carbon retrofit is doing more with less – re-using walls, floors, doors, windows and fixtures – it could potentially lead to a somewhat flea-bitten aesthetic. But flea-bitten is definitely not the word that springs to mind entering the new Sustainable Workspaces foyer. It helps that we’re on the fifth floor of the landmark, Grade II listed County Hall, designed by architect Ralph Knott as the home of the London County Council (LCC), and opened in 1922 by George V. Luckily, ‘eco chic’ is the term that comes to mind for the pale, cork stools and timber-framed armchairs in the foyer, not to mention the acoustic panels made from mycelium that dangle from the exposed ceiling. Te roughness of pre-loved parquet and chunks of visible brickwork where plaster has been removed could push it towards ruin-porn, but the smell of excellent coffee that emanates from the cafe/bar reassures, as does the quiet buzz of co-workers’ conversations, and the slew of hemp-toned logos that are scatter-gunned across one wall – presumably, all the eco tech start-ups that have been helped by the client, Sustainable Ventures (SV). A venture capitalist
Left The original parquet floor was retained, while the ‘worm cast’ panels on the bar are made from used coffee grounds
This image There is a lot of salvaged and reclaimed furniture, including most of the freestanding chairs and tables, and many of the lights
The space itself is huge, and offers fantastic views onto the Houses of Parliament and the Thames along the north façade, and lots of daylight internally
with a difference, SV supports promising tech start-ups working to resolve the climate emergency, with not just funding but flexible and affordable office space, which also helps to build the community. Te words ‘Welcome to the home of climate tech’ over the reception desk reinforce the idea that this isn’t some toxic, fossil fuel-enriched corporate brand merely virtue-signalling with a few cork tiles and some salvaged lampshades. Dickon Hayward, founder and director of architects Material Works, praises his client for being willing to go the extra mile to really deliver on the low-carbon ambition.
Te space itself is huge (3,600m2 ), and
offers fantastic views onto the Houses of Parliament and the Tames along the north
façade, and lots of daylight internally and externally, thanks to the floor plan that wraps around an open central courtyard. But when the client first showed Hayward the site, it was semi-derelict. ‘Te windows were smashed, there was pigeon poo everywhere,’ he says. It was at this initial appraisal that the client told him: ‘We need to transform this into a sociable, lively workspace, it needs to be sustainable and there’s no money.’ Tere followed the inevitable discussion about the fact that materials that have a better carbon footprint are usually more expensive. But Hayward and his team got to thinking what could best be kept and what replaced. He says: ‘Tere are various things we can’t control – the envelope of the building. It’s a listed building. We needed to put services in, which we have done as efficiently as possible.’ Te team drew on contacts within SV’s community to source innovative materials at more competitive prices. Says Hayward: ‘One of the companies in here is Mitsubishi’s sustainable innovation team, and so all the (services) kit came from them,’ (a hybrid system that has fewer refrigerants than a standard heating/cooling system). Next on the list was materials. As ever, it’s the largest areas that have the biggest impact on both carbon and budget. Says Hayward: ‘For a standard office fit-out in a space like this, you would be looking at a raised floor, suspended ceiling, plastering all the walls and painting everything.’ But there were more urgent necessities: replacing smashed windows, putting in bathroom facilities, providing power, heat and lighting. He says: ‘By the time we’d done that we’d practically blown the budget.’
So the original parquet floor – in all its bashed and battered glory – was retained. And it looks great; evidence of the life this building has had over the past century. Tere are many holes along the walls where old radiators have been ripped out, but they have been tidied round the edges, leaving exposed bricks and chunks of masonry for an aesthetic Hayward aptly describes as ‘raw’, ‘unmachined, natural’. Ceilings are exposed, with mottled acoustic panels made from mycelium (mushroom spores) provided by one of SV’s successful fledgelings, Biohm, which are also responsible for the curious, organic ‘worm cast’ panels on the reception planters (made from vegetable waste) and those on the bar (made from used coffee grounds).
Tere is a lot of salvaged and reclaimed furniture: most of the freestanding chairs and tables, many of the lights, most of the bathroom fittings including toilets. Doing it well – or knitting it into a coherent presentation – requires a unifying aesthetic (mid-century modern), and the strategic deployment of furniture in appropriate clusters rather than eclectic individual items. Larger pieces of bespoke furniture are made not from MDF but ‘ecoboard’ – ‘agricultural waste with non- toxic binders. Tings like that per square metre are a bit more expensive than plywood,’ says Hayward, ‘but if you don’t do too much and focus it on small areas, you can make it work.’
FRED HOWARTH
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141
