White Collar Factory, 1 Old Street, Yard, London
This building challenges traditional concepts of the workplace on many levels. Just its very presence has been instrumental in re-defining an area of London as a business location. From its ground floor uses, the utilitarian aesthetic and its unique combination of building structure and services, there has been a consistently innovative approach to how the building works and what it delivers for its occupiers. The new boundaries which this building has crossed will deliver lessons for office development for many years to come.
The White Collar Factory, in the Old Street Yard development, is positioned in a prime location on the ‘Silicon Roundabout’, with a sixteen-storey tower as its anchor. Alongside the tower reception entrance is a permeable opening that leads to a buzzing landscaped plaza at the heart of the development.
The scheme is the outcome of a uniquely bold and ambitious research project, undertaken over almost a decade by the client, architect and design team. From the moment one enters the reception space in the main tower it is clear this is no ordinary office building. The tall concrete lobby includes a coffee bar positioned on a stepped timber podium, a projected tenant directory and a servicing platform that doubles up as the reception desk when it is in resting position.
Inside the building concrete is used in a variety of creative architectural and engineering methods: It is raw and exposed in the lift lobbies, displaying the remarkable quality of the contractor’s formwork and at high level it carries the services and temperature control for the building, working in conjunction with the openable windows. These are set in a bravely articulated façade which provide ventilation during favourable conditions indicated by an ingenious traffic light system.
On the roof, a landscaped terrace provides panoramic views over the City’s towers, and overlooks a running track built over the BMU layout on the level below. This addition, offering occupiers a space to jog away from the polluted streets below, is the literal crowning feature of a project that is truly innovative in almost every aspect and will continue to set a high benchmark long into the future.
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