With an iconic red brick structure Union House located in Southwark at the intersection of Great Suffolk Street and Union Street, has recently undergone significant renovations. Formerly a warehouse the building has been converted into offices, with its upper two levels demolished and replaced with new fourth, fifth and mezzanine floors. These new levels feature a fully glazed south-facing cranked façade, which provides stunning views to those on the upper floors. The reception, lower ground floor and third floor offices have also been refurbished to maintain a cohesive and modern look.
Due to the significant increase in floor space from these renovations, some challenges had to be overcome such as the building’s single lift and limited electrical supply. To ensure that occupants could reach the upper floors an additional lift was installed. For comfort cooling and space heating a VRF heat pump system was introduced.
Despite the challenges of the renovation, Union House now offers over 28,000ft² of multi-tenanted office space, complete with polished concrete or timber flooring. These upgrades provide the opportunity for quirky and unique office tenancies in the chic South Bank district of London.
Apex Tower located next to New Malden train station is a 15-story office development. At ground level an enlarged prestigious reception area is provided which leads to commuter facility with unisex showers and drying room. The refurbishment works is targeting BREEAM RFO ‘Very Good’ and achieved an Energy Performance Certification rating of ‘B’.
Watkins Payne carried out the Independent Design Review role for 2 Aldermanbury Square, a redevelopment of the existing City Place House located at 55 Basinghall Street.
The development Pegasus Mayfair is targeting a B rated EPC, BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ and WELL ‘Gold’ and Watkins Payne is providing these services.
Watkins Payne provided MEP systems and IT cabling design services for the fit-out of 186,000ft2 of commercial offices in the eight storey 1 Forbury Place in Reading, which formed the focus of SSE Services plc’s relocation strategy to consolidate several buildings from across southern England and accommodate 1,500 employees in a single location.
Watkins Payne carried out the Independent Design Review role for Block A at The Soapworks development.