London Empire House
Rehabilitation of a historic art deco building into office space
- location: London / UK, New Road
- architects: Przemo Łukasik, Łukasz Zagała
- associate architects: Michał Bienek, Bartłomiej Karaś, Maciej Hetmańczyk Sandra Przepiórkowska, Michał Sokołowski, Konrad Basan, Mateusz Rymar, Michał Laskowski
- construction: Firma Inżynierska STATYK
- Signage: Joanna Katańska
- investor: EGF Empire Limited
- total area: 2088 sqm
- usable floor area: 1441 sqm
- design: 2018
- realization: 2019
- photographs: Louis Berk
- certificates: BREEAM UK Refurbishment and Fit Out
- awards: Distinction in the Export Work category in the Architecture of the Year of the Silesian Voivodeship 2020 competition
Empire House is a five-storey building of almost 1,600sqm in art déco style designed in 1935 by Huma Victor Kerr and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The redevelopment of the existing buildings on its site must be carried out in accordance with the BREEAM certification scheme.
The project used materials from the demolition of the internal elements of the building. New systems and technologies, such as the BMS, were introduced into the building and the building envelope: doors, windows and roof were replaced, achieving lower heat transfer coefficients. Contributing to this was the Reynaers Aluminium window system with its slimline profiles, deceptively similar to the original steel windows, which also guarantees adequate thermal insulation.
Empire House is located in a conservation area. Historically, it is one of the most valuable buildings located in the Whitechapel district. One way of preserving the art déco character of this building was through the Reynaers Aluminium system, which offered profiles reminiscent of the original industrial so-called crittall windows.
In addition, the building featured external green walls, as well as nesting boxes for birds. All fixtures and fittings, as well as the steel and concrete structural columns, remained visible, giving the interior an industrial feel. This effect was enhanced by exposing the original tiles and brick walls. This was complemented by simple lighting inspired by traditional industrial lamps. The space has an open layout, which is conducive to the building’s new coworking functions.
