Macmillan House, Paddington

Repairing and enhancing the heritage fabric
Optimising revenues

Location:	London, Uk
Services:	Architect, Lead Consultant and Principal Designer

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Our design celebrates the heritage and identity of this Grade I Listed Building while providing a high quality and contemporary retail offer. Units are given a dual aspect addressing both Platform 1 on one side and our new Crossrail Station on the other, encouraging permeability and maximising connection between the stations.

Repairing and enhancing the heritage fabric

Macmillan House is a sensitive heritage building at the heart of Grade I listed Paddington Station. One side gives out on to Platform 1 and the other, the new Elizabeth Line station.

Our brief was to maximise the retail potential of the main four storey block and the two storey building occupying the bomb gap, without impacting negatively on the heritage.

The ground floor of both buildings was occupied by retail and railway accommodation, with offices on the upper floors. Challenges included meeting security and bomb blast requirements, inserting contemporary additions including new stairs and lifts into the existing fabric and developing a scheme which allowed continued use of the offices throughout development.

Optimising revenues

Our design integrates a new state of the art office and retail building within the heritage fabric of the building. It provides 57,000 sq.ft. GIA across seven storeys and utilises both the roof space and the basement level.

The design accommodates and preserves the historic significance and structural integrity of Brunel’s mainline station roof, which interfaces with the 80m long site. Existing platform arches provide access along the station side of the site and new entrance points re-orientate the station and connect with the retail and office programmes at ground level.

Existing features such as the transept window are used as markers for the entrance to the largest proposed retail unit.

Early contractor engagement was used to support the design, adopting panelised off-site manufacture for a cost effective solution. These systems allowed for a quicker construction period and less station disruption as well as providing high quality finishes.