Workspace Group are replacing the existing Business Centre on Cremer Street with a new building, retaining the employment use of the site. KLA have been asked to deliver the public realm.
Our scheme will uphold the gardenesque archetype, that can be seen in the neighbouring Geffrye Museum, producing a green retreat for the building’s tenants. The surrounding area has a rich history of horticulturists and plantsman and demonstrates the ingenuity of city gardeners and the magic of hidden green spaces. Our proposal continues this theme, adding another link in the chain of pocket green spaces and increasing the number of leafy horizons to guide you through. Planting will take inspiration from Gertrude Jekyll’s garden at Lindesfarne Castle, using a floristic mix of perennials, climbers and fruit trees. The scheme will play with colour, texture and volume and celebrate the creative art of planting.
The design will also be a memory of the terrace houses that once sat on Caesar Street. A series of rooms will be defined by brick ‘fragment’ walls that follow the historic floor plan of the houses. The former back gardens will be brought to life again with the kitchen and front parlour in timber and the scullery in clay paving. Historic segments, such as chimney hearths and staircases, will be recreated to provide seating and more intimate spaces.
2016–2017
Hackney, London
Client
Workspace
Architect
Witherford Watson Mann
