New apartments carved out of old office blocks have tranquil oasis at heart
9 Sep 2008

Starting on site this month is the transformation of two (1930's and 70's) back-to-back low-rise office buildings on a busy London thoroughfare into tranquil residential accommodation overlooking a secluded courtyard.



By remodelling the existing lightwell between the two office buildings to form an entrance courtyard, and by adding a playful transparent 'veil' of vertical timber fins to the highly articulated new courtyard elevation, architects ORMS have created a dynamic, light and elegant apartment development which is more Sydney than London. By retaining and extending the street-facing facades of the original office buildings the architect has created a residential building which enhances the existing streetscape of the Bishopsgate Conservation area, and which does not reveal its open, contemporary face until visitors are within the courtyard.

The project, for Halcyon Property, includes the refurbishment of a total of 25,000 sq ft of office accommodation to provide 26 Apartments, (a mixture of studio, 1 and 2 bed units) and retail and restaurant space at ground and basement levels. The majority of the apartments are designed as dual aspect to maximise the amount of daylight into each unit, incorporate prefabricated kitchen pods and have a high performing thermal envelope.

John McRae, the ORMS Director responsible for the project said that the apartments offer a rare combination of central location, contemporary design and tranquillity. "Continuing our creative reuse of existing buildings we are transforming the two buildings for the next 100 years. In the centre of the development we have recreated the notion of a medieval London courtyard which provides a moment of relaxation to read a book, meet your next door neighbour and create a feeling of community. We hope that other designers will take a lead from this project as we believe there are lots of unexplored opportunities to create informal community spaces within the urban context."

Bishopsgate Project London - info from Stratton & Reekie 090908



Professional Team
Client Halcyon Property
Architect ORMS
Structural engineer MBP Partnership
Quantity Surveyor Gardiner & Theobald
M&E Engineer Vector Design

Address: 120 Middlesex Street

Bishopsgate buildings, City of London

ORMS - Practice Information:
ORMS is a 50 strong team of architects and interior designers with a studio in Clerkenwell, London, and projects throughout the UK. ORMS has a passion for creating buildings that embody fresh ideas and exceptional attention to detail. ORMS places a strong emphasis on designing from the inside out. For ORMS an outstanding user experience is the ultimate measure of success, an approach that has resulted in many awards including, in 2007, the BCO's Best of Best award. Despite its relatively small size, ORMS has a very broad portfolio including projects in the commercial, residential, education, leisure, retail and public sectors. ORMS' compact structure, collaborative ethos and pro-active knowledge transference enables innovations and ideas from each sector to be shared across the practice reinforcing ORMS ability to develop original solutions and win awards.

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Bishopsgate Project London - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt