Alphabeta by Studio RHE offers a dynamic and adaptable workplace
on the intersection between Shoreditch and the City of London,
successfully attracted media and technology companies alongside
financial sector tenants.
The £48million retrofit of three separate buildings, originally built
between 1910-30 and consolidated into Triton Court in the 1980s,
involved a complete refurbishment and rooftop extension of the
premises. The project increased the net internal area by 17% to create
22,300sq m (240,000sq ft) of accommodation that rethinks the typical
City of London office format.
Studio RHE’s design redefines the concept of the workplace through
its offering of extensive shared work and social space. Key to this is
the nine-storey, 750sq m glazed atrium, conceived as the dynamic,
social heart of the building. At ground floor level, furnishings and
installations, including a 5m long ‘kitchen’ table, a paneled library
area, a café and a basketball court encourage activity and
interaction.
The curved reception desk morphs into a high bar for
touchdown working as it wraps around a timber and bronze clad
staircase to the lower ground level. A large selection of finishes,
including exposed concrete, ceramic tile, back painted glass and
charred timber create further visual variety.
At upper levels, the atrium is animated on the glazed east and west
elevations by six cantilevered meeting rooms projecting three metres
into the space. The north elevation is clad in vertical planks with
double-height frameless glass openings, while the south elevation is
clad in untreated mild steel sheets with horizontally oriented openings.
Cycling provision is an important component of Alphabeta’s shared
facilities. Studio RHE has embraced this as a design feature with the
inclusion of a cycle ramp from street level down to the lower ground
floor, where there is cycling storage for 250 bikes and adjacent
changing rooms and lockers. The ramp is clearly visible from the atrium
through a glazed screen, to animate this key central space.
New access from Worship Street creates an alternative Shoreditch
entrance to the Finsbury Square way in, reinforcing the mixed tenancy
profile.
Studio RHE stripped out previous fit-outs and reworked the
compartmentalised floor plates to create more efficient, open and
better lit workspace. Throughout, the aim was to embrace the
complexities and eccentricities of the original buildings, resulting in
exposed historic features such as steel columns, cornices and
brickwork, with the varying ceiling and floor levels celebrated rather
than concealed. New servicing is either centralised into service spines
finished in white perforated steel or left exposed with a galvanized
steel finish.
Previous roofscape extensions that clashed with the historic roofline
have been removed and replaced with more sensitive rooftop office
accommodation. New terraces provide additional shared spaces with
extensive views across London. Two original, previously inaccessible
towers have been opened up to create idiosyncratic meeting spaces.
The project grew in scope substantially from the original commission
for a quick fit-out to attract short-term Telecommunications, Media
and Technology sector tenants. The fully comprehensive retrofit has
completed after over two years in construction.
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