Workplace - Come Back
Veronica Simpson reports on how workspaces are luring employees back to their office desks.
EVEN BEFORE the events of 2020, debate was fierce over the future of the workplace – in fact, whether a designated, fixed office even has a future. But the consensus now seems to be that workplace culture benefits from in-situ employees – certainly as far as employers are concerned. Whether workers feel the same is still a moot point. But in addition to flexible working (two days at home to three at the office seems quite normal now) the four-day week, which was an aberration five years ago, has become far more commonplace post-pandemic, with an increasing number of employers in the UK, Belgium and recently Portugal, signing up to pay staff the same even when they are at work one day less. However, architects and designers are often being briefed for all kinds of add-ons to lure staff back to their desks.
The site is in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Image Credit: Fabrix
We have never been more aware of the restorative power of greenery. So no surprise that the latest office refurbs and newbuilds are throwing in extra roof terraces, planted courtyards and atria, as well as a proliferation of indoor greenery. For youngsters renting in major capital cities, employers know that few would have the luxury of a garden or balcony, so making the office atmosphere more of a biophilic delight wins them brownie (or greenie?) points.
John Robertson Architects concept design is helping client HB Reavis achieve the top environmental and wellbeing accreditations for its Bloom Clerkenwell building. Comprising 14,500m2 of Grade A workspace on seven levels all designed to minimise carbon footprint and maximise wellbeing, the 1,400m2 of planted roof terrace and assorted planting woven throughout the structure means that almost 11% of the building comprises landscaped terraces – giving it the ‘highest office-to-terrace ratios of any building in London’. That includes a communal edible garden offering fruit and herbs. There’s also a 1,200ft2 fitness studio with no membership fee. It has achieved a BREEAM Outstanding rating, and a WELL Platinum certification.
Random Studios in Amsterdam is using nature and technology to make the most of both outdoor and indoor space. Its employees enjoy a 300m2 rooftop garden (which helps with roof insulation as well as rainwater harvesting), as well as a whole range of tech and creative solutions deployed within its walls. As a tech company it used its skills to devise a ‘tech theatre’ to give them complete control over light, temperature, sound and even smell, all oriented towards boosting their workers’ moods.
A few have gone even further to make the office more like a home: by inviting the neighbours round to mingle. The Court House in Blackfriars, London, is a new scheme by Sheppard Robson for Fabrix developers that does exactly that. The rooftop forest is not just for staff but also for the local community, bringing staff and locals together as volunteer gardeners and nature lovers (see case study, below).
Social as well as environmental responsibility has been at the core of Fabrix’s mission statement since it launched in 2016. Head of impact Debbie Whitfield tells FX: ‘Back then, people thought we were hippies – particularly our emphasis on the social side of things as well as the environment. Not any more.’
Now, post-Covid, its approach is ticking lots of boxes and giving it an edge in the office property market. Says Whitfield: ‘We know there has been a flight to quality and that will continue: not just beautifully designed buildings in good locations but buildings that are responding to environmental demands – net-zero buildings with areas that provide that space for giving back.’
That notion of giving back – taking time to dedicate yourself to something outside of your day-to-day work concerns – has a lot of traction currently. Among architects, that sometimes means taking on projects that require you to go the extra mile, for less. James Hampton of New Makers Bureau has recently seen a pet project, worked on pro bono for seven years, come to fruition (see 32° East Arts Centre case study, previous page). He takes huge personal and professional pride in the project’s innovative and sustainable design, and not only has this given him the opportunity to develop his understanding of rammed earth and compressed brick technology but he has been able to realise his ambition to design a cultural building – something young practices in the UK rarely get a chance to fulfil.
Says Hampton: ‘It’s been my dream project.’ He acknowledges that ‘it’s been really tough at times. It’s not easy doing things pro bono. But I think it allows you to do more. There’s also an agreement with the client. They are going to let you have a little more creative freedom because you are giving your time. It’s a different relationship. It’s actually better. You have to have a lot more trust.’
Many, like Hampton, are inspired to study architecture in the hope that their skills might help to create a more equitable and happier, healthier society. The quality of submissions to the 2023 Davidson Prize certainly demonstrates that. The prize, which aims to recognise ‘transformative architecture of the home’ this year was titled Somewhere to Call Home, and invited multi-disciplinary teams to imagine better solutions for temporary homelessness. A total of 47 teams donated their time, energy and vision over the better part of a year to enter the competition. These were whittled down to a longlist of 16, and then three shortlisted teams were each given £5,000 to develop their proposal and create a two-minute film. The winning project, Helping Hands (see case study on the previous page), was awarded £10,000.
Studio Mutt was part of the winning team with an innovative approach that looked at widening participation to multiple stakeholders who can access the site in question, engaged via gardens and gatherings. Alexander Turner, director, says: ‘We recognised that it was not just about enhancing existing space in pursuit of solutions, but how the curation of that space might link up with welfare services to respond to a faceted issue like homelessness in a holistic, connected way. The draw of the competition therefore became an extension of how we practice – a way to continue to think about, and even scrutinise, how architecture can work more cohesively to address societal issues today.’
Although the ongoing execution of the project is hampered by funding issues and the complex, multi-partner structure, Turner says the practice has a new awareness of how these organisations operate: ‘Tapping into welfare infrastructures and provision has added a new layer of thinking to the way that we typically approach projects. We always begin our work with a phase of research and cataloguing visual, cultural or historical references around given briefs. This project has directed us to look further afield, extending our frame of reference or research to go beyond the physical or spatial. We are excited to build more on that.’
Community engagement is one area that Goldfinger, a furniture design firm, set out to harness, caring for both its carbon and social footprint. Established in 2013 by Marie Cudennec Carlisle and Oliver Waddington-Ball, it is scrupulous in the way it sources materials but also in helping the community around it in North Kensington (see case study, below) with an ambitious education programme as well as a community kitchen, in which its staff take an active part. Carlisle says: ‘We don’t know of any other furniture companies who are social enterprises.’ Does this enriched programme of extracurricular philanthropy help in the recruitment or retention of staff, I ask? She says: ‘It’s definitely both.’
CASE STUDY 32° EAST ARTS CENTRE | UGANDAN ARTS TRUST
The sweeping roof provides shade. Image Credit: Fabrix
Uganda’s first purpose-built community and contemporary arts space, 32° East Arts Centre | Ugandan Arts Trust, opened its doors in Kampala on 23 March 2023. It had taken seven years of tireless drive and energy from its founder, director and fundraisers, but also the skills and good will of architect James Hampton of New Makers Bureau, who donated his design services pro bono. The client, a not-for-profit organisation, started with a vision to promote and support East Africa’s contemporary art scene. The centre’s first iteration was four shipping containers, but thanks to some fortuitous land acquisitions and a tireless fundraising team, plus the friendship between London-based architect Hampton and the client team, this beautiful, red, rammed earth and baked brick structure has emerged, completing phase one of the scheme.
Built in collaboration with Kampala-based multidisciplinary design and building company Localworks, this flexible, fully accessible, single-storey structure offers four artist studios, a library, restrooms, and a spacious café that doubles up as exhibition, event and workspace until phase two arrives. Situated on a slope, the building is arranged around a shaded, step-free courtyard, creating another amenity and social gathering space, as well as outdoor studio for larger structures.
The construction is both sustainable and hyper-local. Following key principles of the circular economy, it is made mostly from materials found on or near the site. Rammed earth or bricks for walls were excavated directly from the site, and solar baked using a traditional compressed brick technique. Demolition materials from two adjacent unfit buildings have been used for fill and as aggregate. The foundations are made of locally quarried sandstone, and local eucalyptus timber used for the rammed earth formworks and then reused as roof shingles.
Minimising solar gain is a major factor, given its location on the equator, and the design response includes slim polycarbonate rooflights for natural daylighting, and the use of shutters rather than glazed windows. The sweeping roof provides shade over the courtyard, and a porous textured pattern in brick screens creates ventilation as well as dappling. If targets are reached, the second phase will complete in 2024, comprising a gallery on two levels, four artist guest rooms (for residencies), two artist studios, offices, kiosks and a walled courtyard garden.
Client 32° East Arts Centre | Ugandan Arts Trust
Architecture New Makers Bureau
Main contractor Localworks, Kampala
Area 470m2
Cost £1.15m
CASE STUDY ROOTS IN THE SKY
The building features a rooftop restaurant, bar and swimming pool. Image Credit: Fabrix
The radical repurposing of Southwark’s former Blackfriars Crown Court sees Sheppard Robson transform this 1960s, cellular structure into a 21st century workplace, as well as a huge asset for the local community, who will have extensive access to the 1.4-acre urban forest being designed for the rooftop. This building also features a rooftop restaurant, bar and swimming pool, though these will probably be retained for the use of the top-paying office client. However, the community will have direct access to the roof, via a public café entrance at street level and not through some corporate reception area.
To support the weight of this living roofscape a lightweight hybrid steel and CLT frame will cope with the 1,300t of soil, not to mention the plants – 125 established trees and 10,000 new plants. The landscaping will not just prioritise community access – the premium rooftop zone, with the best views over the city of London will be dedicated to community and public use – but also carve out areas for undisturbed wilderness so that pollinators and other crawling creatures vital to the plant ecosystem can thrive, undisturbed.
The building features a rooftop restaurant, bar and swimming pool. Image Credit: Fabrix
As for the 385,000ft2 of offices, the ambition is for this to be net zero both in construction and operation, incorporating circular economy principles wherever possible, including the use of reclaimed structural steel. A passive ventilation approach includes openable windows, and a full-height feature atrium that facilitates the removal of waste heat from the building. A passive water capture system will irrigate the forest on demand. Inside, the building will be all-electric, with wastewater heat recovery and air source heat pumps. It is targeting BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Platinum and Nabers 5* certification. The scheme, currently under construction, won in the Unbuilt category at the New London Award in 2021.
Client Fabrix developers
Architecture Sheppard Robson
Internal area 385,000ft2
Proposed completion 2027
Landscape design Harris Bugg
Project manager Gardiner & Theobald LLP
M&E/Sustainability engineer Atelier Ten
Structural engineer AKT II
CASE STUDY HELPING HANDS | STUDIO MUTT
Artist impressions of the Helping Hands/Studio Mutt project, which was the winner of the 2023 Davidson Prize. Chair of the jury, architect Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM, says: ‘What tipped it for Helping Hands was the sense of people working together on the ground, building on existing community infrastructure, and taking collective responsibility for a better future.’ Studio Mutt director Alexander Turner adds that ‘working with practitioners from different disciplines, social sectors, and areas of expertise’ supported ‘the growing sentiment that urban solutions can no longer have one explicit author’. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
Winner of the 2023 Davidson Prize, Helping Hands is a collaborative project emerging from a multi-disciplinary team that began with Liverpool-based architects Studio Mutt and collaborative R&D company Neighbourhood, but which grew to include many others. With the prize brief this year asking for temporary solutions to homelessness, the team honed in on care leavers as a particularly vulnerable group, then looked for expert advice from those working in both housing and education for this community, and a live site with which to work.
Artist impressions of the Helping Hands/Studio Mutt project, which was the winner of the 2023 Davidson Prize. Chair of the jury, architect Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM, says: ‘What tipped it for Helping Hands was the sense of people working together on the ground, building on existing community infrastructure, and taking collective responsibility for a better future.’ Studio Mutt director Alexander Turner adds that ‘working with practitioners from different disciplines, social sectors, and areas of expertise’ supported ‘the growing sentiment that urban solutions can no longer have one explicit author’. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
They found both in the Hugh Baird College in Liverpool, which offers shared accommodation and individual homes, as well as hosting organisations supporting vulnerable and homeless people, such as homeless services provider the Independence Initiative (aka The Indy). As the collaborative team expanded and the vision evolved, they looked at opportunities on the college campus, which sits within a typical urban block, with multiple overlooked or infill spaces that could be activated. One that has been activated is in front of the Indy office, with a pocket garden that has won awards for the community it has built with residents and local volunteers, which in turn transforms the atmosphere around these buildings.
Artist impressions of the Helping Hands/Studio Mutt project, which was the winner of the 2023 Davidson Prize. Chair of the jury, architect Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM, says: ‘What tipped it for Helping Hands was the sense of people working together on the ground, building on existing community infrastructure, and taking collective responsibility for a better future.’ Studio Mutt director Alexander Turner adds that ‘working with practitioners from different disciplines, social sectors, and areas of expertise’ supported ‘the growing sentiment that urban solutions can no longer have one explicit author’. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
All of these communities have been knitted into the Helping Hands proposal. Phase One, which the team is hoping to activate – if funds can be found – is the building of a Potting Shed, in an unused mews street on the edge of the site, which could be a therapy and meeting space as well as a resource for generating more plants to green the site further. If they receive the go-ahead for this, the team would like to move the current social supermarket out of the Indy and next to the Potting Shed, freeing up space for more rooms for residents. If that goes according to plan, the team would like to build further dwellings on an adjacent car park, creating micro dwellings that could also face onto the Indy’s courtyard.
Artist impressions of the Helping Hands/Studio Mutt project, which was the winner of the 2023 Davidson Prize. Chair of the jury, architect Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM, says: ‘What tipped it for Helping Hands was the sense of people working together on the ground, building on existing community infrastructure, and taking collective responsibility for a better future.’ Studio Mutt director Alexander Turner adds that ‘working with practitioners from different disciplines, social sectors, and areas of expertise’ supported ‘the growing sentiment that urban solutions can no longer have one explicit author’. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
Studio Mutt director Alexander Turner says: ‘The entire idea and process was about linking seemingly disparate issues and their respective solutions, understanding that, designing housing, offering education, and rebuilding independence are all, mutually reinforcing things.’
Competition The 2023 Davidson Prize
Architect Studio Mutt
Developer and research partners Neighbourhood
Further project partners Hugh Baird College, poet and accessibility consultant Peter O’Neil, Dr Polly Wootton of Islington Hostel Outreach, filmmaker Amber Akaunu and poetry society Dead Good Poets Society
CASE STUDY GOLDFINGER
Goldfinger employees serve food at the People’s Kitchen and interact with visitors. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
It may have the name of a Bond baddie, but Goldfinger has nothing but good intentions, both in the creation of a brand that designs and crafts furniture and homeware from locally sourced and reclaimed materials, and also its extracurricular activities – from teaching local schoolkids how to get started in design to feeding neighbours in need.
This social enterprise, founded in 2013 by Marie Cudennec Carlisle and Oliver Waddington-Ball, champions hyper-local materials and traditional craftsmanship. Its furniture is sold both in standalone retail and shop fit-outs for Selfridges, Soho Home, Gail’s Bakery, Tom Dixon, Whistles and Inhabit Hotels. They also design and build crafted pieces for private residential, with clients such as Squire & Partners, Ab Rogers and Foster & Partners.
Goldfinger employees serve food at the People’s Kitchen and interact with visitors. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
The company has created a rich network of suppliers for locally sourced, low-carbon hardwoods, much of it salvaged wood donated by partners across London. With new wood projects, they find ‘Treecycled’ wood that has been felled due to weather-related or urban disturbances, and from responsibly managed British woodlands.
But staff at its workshop and headquarters in Trellick Square, W10, sign up for the brand’s programme of social as well as environmental sustainability. There are two major programmes run from the site. One is a craft/design education scheme, the Goldfinger Academy, which offers up workshop time and courses for schools, traineeship programmes and community classes, while the Future Makers scheme, for 16-to-25-year-olds, mentors youngsters with a desire to work in furniture and design professions.
Goldfinger employees serve food at the People’s Kitchen and interact with visitors. Image Credit: Studio Mutt
Meanwhile, the third Sunday of every month, staff and a community of volunteers cook and dish up restaurant-quality meals to those in need in the area, both in the restaurant Panella that’s based in its building and they also deliver to the door. The People’s Kitchen began in 2015, with in-kitchen dining, but during the lockdown it became entirely home delivery, and with frequency increased to weekly, 160 meals were cooked every time by the Goldfinger café chef and volunteers.
Says Carlisle: ‘At Goldfinger, we believe that people and planet are two sides of the same coin, and that sustainability can’t be achieved without supporting the communities we live and work in.’
