dMFK and Bureau de Change have completed The Gaslight, a contemporary workspace in a 1920s building in London’s Fitzrovia
dMFK and Bureau De Change have completed the transformation of a 1920s building in Fitzrovia, central London, to create a contemporary, flexible workspace. The Gaslight was originally the premises of the Gas Light and Coke Company, a robust, utilitarian facility of red brick and Portland stone, with a broad frontage onto Rathbone Street.
In response to the brief from ISA Holdings, dMFK has refurbished, reconfigured and extended the original building with an extension, new core and roofline that responds to its industrial character. Working within the new volumes, Bureau de Change has created the interiors, with bespoke materials, patterns and geometries that bring an artisanal character to the building’s fabric.
dMFK’s rear extension arches back towards the upper roof, inspired by the inclined glazed roofs of artists’ studios. Its faceted, glazed pre-patinated zinc roof floods the new spaces with light and creates a series of distinctive internal volumes that are intended to unite the aesthetic of the original building with the new intervention. The extension doubles the building’s depth and is stepped along its width to provide each floor with a terrace overlooking a terrazzo-lined planted garden below.
At the top of the building dMFK has added two new pavilions that bookend the facade. The studio spaces combine high-domed ceilings and large atelier-style windows that offer expansive views across the rooftops of Fitzrovia. A dormer window inserted into the volume of the new roof has allowed for the insertion of a new mezzanine floor.
dMFK has fundamentally rearranged the building for multiple uses, reflected in three new entrances: a courtyard entrance into a restaurant unit on the ground floor, a refurbished entrance in the original core for a lower-ground-floor gym, and a new entrance, in a new core, for the workspaces. Throughout the main building windows have been enlarged and replaced to rebalance the facade, brickwork has been restored and the original decorative metalwork reinstated.
Drawing on the building’s art deco character and the area’s rich heritage of craftsmanship Bureau de Change has created a cohesive visual narrative that runs throughout the building. At the centre of its scheme is an innovative sculptural intervention in the new circulation core that connects the four floors of offices. The two layers of bespoke, bronze-coloured filigree mesh create a moiré effect that obscures the building’s concrete core.
Underneath the suspended stairs that wrap around the core at ground floor, the top layer of pleated mesh peels away to reveal the intricate pattern beneath. This intervention conveys a sense of hand craftsmanship, whilst using industrial materials and fabrication. The cladding’s distinct character continues into the lift interiors, with details etched on the mirror and a bespoke pentagonal blue leather handrail. The lift core and stairwell use 85 burnished bronze panels, each laser cut and folded to create an intricate framework.
In the bathrooms, Bureau de Change has used a bespoke terrazzo panelling – a contemporary reimagining of the original timber panelling. Wayfinding in the building is facilitated with extruded bronze signs in a distinctive ribbon font, and the numbers for the building’s main entrance are shaped into the metal railings on the restored wooden gates. Hand-turned timber handles have been fitted to the external entrance doors.
In the workspaces Bureau de Change has organised the exposed services to complement the ceilings’ existing structural grid; bespoke joinery and discreet linear lighting accentuate these open and airy offices. A mezzanine floor has been inserted into the volume of the new roof. On one side the access to the floor is masked by a dark grey volume, whilst the contours of its other profile are encapsulated in a bronze ribbon, echoed in a subtly fanned bronze balustrade.
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