Hutchinson & Partners has refurbished the neoclassical Victoria House building on London’s Bloomsbury Square, transforming it into a refined oak- and marble-lined co-working office.

Photos
Ståle Eriksen

The Grade II-listed building was originally built in the 1920s to the designs of architect Charles William Long as the headquarters for the insurance brokers Liverpool and Victoria Friendly Company. The 110 metre-long, 13-storey high building of carved Portland stone and cast bronze is an imposing presence, forming the eastern side of Bloomsbury Square and a portion of Southampton Row in Holborn.

Hutchinson & Partners was asked to convert the interiors into flexible workspace by the office provider LABS, and it now hosts overs 28,000 square metres of offices, as well as shops, cafes and event space.

The office interiors were formerly renovated by Alsop Architects between 1999-2003, which saw the insertion of ETFE meeting pods that internalised the building’s courtyards. These “very Alsop” additions have been retained within the Hutchinson & Partners scheme, which seeks to create a contemporary workspace while paying tribute to the historical character of the building, while others have been removed.

“The architectural and material language of the Alsop intervention lacked a certain sense of character, and the proportions, detailing and material choices that have been made in the Alsop years felt slightly cold and dystopian when viewed against the grandeur and warmth of the original spaces,” says Hutchinson & Partners director James Bazeley.

However, spatial aspects of the Alsop design did much to prepare the building as a modern workspace: “This iteration did much to bring the building into the 21st century in terms of addressing some of the basic requirements around accessibility, and resolving the wider spatial strategy of the building through the introduction of the lift cores that run the height of the building.”

A “sea of contract carpet, brilliant white paint and suspended ceiling tiles” has been swapped for a refined palette of oak flooring, panelling, brass fittings, and marble and terrazzo surfaces, which pay homage to the original features found within the building’s grand hallways and a handful of preserved offices.

Flexibly planned offices – designed for individual and company use – hinge off wood-lined communal zones on each level, which offer lounges and meeting spaces, kitchens, libraries, casual workspaces and phone booths that have been designed with equal consideration.

“Our approach was to introduce a new language of intervention that we feel responds more strongly to the original character of the building, whilst also being undoubtedly contemporary in its nature,” says the practice.

“A language of clean lines and datums frame the articulated plasterwork and house the bespoke joinery panelling and sculpted marble portals, lending the space a boutique, intimate feel.”

Additional images and plans

Credits