The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
The project consists of the renovation and reconfiguration of the warehouse’s third and fourth floors to create a flexible social hub, combining office, co-working space and recording studio.
The materials used were selected for robustness – to survive the wear and tear of co-working – as well as for their acoustic properties. The palette includes Valchromat joinery, painted steel, cork and aluminium panels, with a rich palette of colour from red to sage green was used to animate the spaces.
A key part of the project has been a collaboration with Studio Mitre and Mondays, who developed a series of demountable and adaptable furniture pieces, including desks, seating and shelving. These employ a tactile palette of cork, aluminium and sycamore timber – the latter sourced from a felled tree near Euston, with each piece fabricated locally at their workshop in Islington.
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An existing spiral staircase was retrofitted with aluminium panels and painted sage green. This ascends to a break room on the fourth floor where red Valchromat joinery continues to form open storage and bench seating.
The triple-aspect recording studio, designed in collaboration with Noatune, is isolated acoustically from the main office with insulated floors and walls lined in a range of fabric panels, bass traps and Valchromat diffusers. Cork panelling at the base of the walls is backed with sheep’s wool acoustic insulation.
Architect’s view
Designing custom-built furniture and lighting allowed us to not only tailor the space but also curate the visitor’s experience. The collection of objects within the space are fluid, suggesting functional assemblies but ultimately allowing the daily use of the office to adapt them. They remain separate from the existing building which has its own very distinct character, but nestle comfortably within it.
Tamsin Hanke, project architect, THISS Studio
Client’s view
There’s often too much distance between manager and artist. To have a site which offers creative workspace with a recording studio allows a physical and emotional synergy.
I was met with a lot of scepticism when trying to commission a studio designer/fabricator for the triple aspect recording studio on the top floor. Even as new territory for them, THISS Studio was up for the challenge through a collaboration with Noatune. Crowning the working hub, it remains at the top of consideration; the brilliance of the work drips down to motivate those working below. The result has made me really proud.
Ben Blackburn, director, Twenty Ten Management and Common Knowledge
Source:THISS Studio
Project data
Start on site April 2023
Completion July 2023
Gross internal floor area 145m2
Form of contract Bespoke construction management contract
Construction cost Undisclosed
Construction cost per m2 Undisclosed
Architect THISS Studio
Client Common Knowledge
Interior design THISS Studio X Mitre and Mondays
Fabricator Mitre and Mondays
Shelving THISS Studio X Mitre and Mondays in Valchromat
Cork EcoCork board supplied by Ty-Mawr Lime
Lighting THISS Studio X Mitre and Mondays/ hilips Hue
Upholstery King Upholstery
CAD software used MicroStation, Rhino with Vray
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