Changing attitudes to the role of the office, the need to update older buildings; and the drive for sustainable construction are helping to fuel growth in building refurbishments.
As well as cost savings, faster development time and a reduced environmental impact, refurbishments are an opportunity to repurpose buildings, creating productive spaces for tenants.
Refurbishments come in all sizes and styles, from Grade II* listed buildings to tired 1970s office blocks and everything in between.
Architectural glass has many benefits when it comes to refurbishment projects:
Reintroducing natural light
Many older buildings lack the natural light and open spaces that companies today are looking for.
78 St James’s Street is a Georgian Grade II* listed building in central London. Whilst the façade and main building were maintained, it has been totally refurbished into an ultra-modern office and meeting space.
Central to the building is a heritage domed atrium roof. Providing both a cover over the dome and creating a unique gallery space, we designed and installed a spectacular 1.2m2 roof light with steel-painted rafters.
The previously unused roof was also completely refurbished. The new rooftop terrace overlooks Westminster and Green Park, where we installed a glazed vision box overlooking the roof light and a 10m sliding door with awning.
Reimagining a buildings purpose
Having graced the Clapham skyline since 1910, Arding and Hobbs is an iconic Grade II listed building that is being redeveloped into a new office and retail space.
Originally home to a number of department stores throughout its life, the ground floor frontage is being refreshed and a new two-storey extension added to the roof.
We are replacing the 1970’s canopy around the entrances to the ground floor, maintaining the original features where possible.
We are also installing the curtain wall system and rainscreen on the roof, flooding additional light into the building.
Refreshing the appearance
Glass entrances can turn an ordinary entrance into an architectural statement, such as the automatic-revolving and pass entrance doors we installed to the ground floor lobby area at Warwick Court. We continued the fresh look to the lift lobbies with glass fire screens.
On the roof we also installed glass balustrades and doors, opening onto the communal roof terrace overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral.
A glass façade package can also significantly change the appearance of a building. At 50 Finsbury Square we installed a double height stacked curtain wall to the ground floor main entrance façade. Extending 8 metres high, it also integrates with the existing upper-level façade originally installed by Focchi, providing a seamless and unique solution.
And to help our client meet its target to preserve 98% of the existing structure, we are replacing 400 windows at Woolgate and then powder-coating the original frames on-site to finish the upgrade.
Please speak to us if you have a refurbishment project and let us come up with a striking solution to make it stand out.