CZWG Offices

Clerkenwell, London

Originally a 19th Century horse and cart depot for a newspaper, then a precision engineering works supplying the printing industry, this 1920s steel framed factory shed enters the 21st Century in the guise of a design studio. The original north-lit, saw-tooth structure is retained but physically separated from the 4 storey, street-fronting, brick structure to which it was attached. The old archway now leads to a long thin tapering courtyard dominated by a new white terrazzo façade containing a single centre panel of glazing which overlays two gold concrete icons. Internally, a timber floored central double volume is the spatial focus to an otherwise top lit single space. Ceilings sculptured to assist airflow from large wooden ducts dominate the lower level, whilst rows of white triangular ‘sails’ relieve the top lit glare to the level above.