12 Valentine Place

Opening up the past
Sociable +Stimulating

Location:

London, UK

As architects, our working environment is very important - reflecting our personality, who we are and what we do. Our Valentine Place studio is a stimulating and creative place to work and a fantastic place to interact with our clients, suppliers and the local community.

Opening up the past

When the opportunity arose to convert an historic 19^th C warehouse building in the Valentine Place conservation area in to our new studio, we couldn’t pass it by. Formerly a photographic studio used by photographer David Bailey, the upper floor was divided into a series of dark rooms with mezzanine storage levels above.

Sociable + Stimulating

The new design consolidates everyone over two floors and at over 5,000 square feet provides a flexible work space with room to grow.

Upstairs, all partitions have been removed; the original roof trusses are exposed and the whole space is flooded with natural light. The original Crittal windows have been retained and refurbished and exposed brickwork preserves the warehouse aesthetic and ensures that the building sits well within its conservation area setting. The bespoke workstations and meeting tables fit the 4m window bays and enhance the generous feel of the building.

On the ground floor, a series of flexible meeting spaces centres around an open plan kitchen which offers a variety of options for both business and social events and encourages interaction between staff and clients alike. Again, the space has been opened up and the building fabric stripped back to expose original features. The warehouse doors have been replaced with an expanse of channel glazing, which floods the ground floor with light and from the outside provides a subtle indication of the radical transformation within.