Alongside client Blue Coast Capital, Morris+Company has secured a resolution to grant planning approval for a new contemporary warehouse, delivering more than 150,000 sq. ft. of prime Grade-A workspace to the Shoreditch area. Designed to evolve with working patterns in the city for years to come, the development will also include 15,000 sq. ft. of affordable workspace, supporting emerging enterprises and the creative industry. The planned project also offers 2,500 sq. ft. of retail and makerspace and over 11,000 sq. ft. of external amenity space. The project is set to start on site in Summer 2022 and complete Summer 2024.
Situated adjacent to the iconic Tea Building, Morris+Company’s proposal is a modern interpretation of Shoreditch’s robust warehouse typology. The scheme is made up of a family of four volumes, ranging from three to nine-storeys in height, in response to the surrounding context. The front facade of 30-32 Redchurch Street will be retained and carefully incorporated into the proposed building which stitches back into the wider conservation area.
The primary entrance will be located on Bethnal Green Road, and an internal street at ground-level will offer a dynamic and fluid meeting hub that extends the Shoreditch streetscape into the building, fostering an ‘eco-system’ for chance encounters between tenants and the general public. The double-height gallery in the entrance will lead to predominantly glazed frontage retail spaces including fashion, furniture, art and design; encouraging a wide variety of users to occupy and bring life to the space.
The first to eighth floors will provide workspaces with generous ceiling heights and lightwells to create connectivity across the building and to maximise light and space. These floor plans will also provide high levels of flexibility and adaptability, to accommodate business growth, and diverse working models while a series of richly planted external balconies, or loggias, are set to create an open and permeable façade, supporting the wellbeing of tenants. On the ninth floor a generous roof terrace opens up to a rooftop pavilion, providing a year-round multi-functional event space, available to all tenants.
Mario Barrientos, Project Associate at Morris+Company commented:
“Our ambition for the Huntingdon Estate is to realise a structure which echoes the legacy of what makes Shoreditch so special. The project is enriched by layers of complexity, developed through consultation, engagement, research and programme. As with many other buildings which make up the local streetscape, our want is that the Huntingdon Estate will be celebrated not for its architecture alone, but for the cultural and programmatic contribution this project makes to Shoreditch now, and for many generations to follow.”
“As a practice we are fascinated by the grain of east London’s working buildings and have invested our entire working history in contributing to the qualitative and organic but continuous evolution of the eastern fringe of the City of London.”
John Stacey, Managing Director – UK Real Estate at Blue Coast Capital commented:
“We are delighted to have secured a resolution to grant planning permission for our proposals at Huntingdon Estate, Shoreditch.”
“This is an incredibly exciting scheme, that will deliver a best-in-class office development at a time when occupiers are actively seeking highly sustainable workspace. The flexible design approach will ensure that the building can adapt and respond to evolving working patterns in the city for years to come.”
Morris+Company has designed a highly adaptable proposal catering for more than 1,500 jobs across a mix of tenants. The development targets BREEAM Outstanding certification for the building and will reduce onsite CO2 emissions towards net zero carbon through energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, alongside a site-wide net gain in biodiversity. The project is also targeted to reach a Platinum WELL building standard, resulting in healthy internal environments for the tenants. Facilities such as a cycle entrance from Chance Street and extensive cycle parking also encourage a sustainable means of transport once the building is occupied.
The scheme is designed to conserve and enhance the rich architectural history of the four surrounding conservation areas: The Boundary Estate; Redchurch Street; Fournier Street, and Elder Street Conservation Area. The materials have been carefully selected in a sensitive palette of reddish pink brickwork and cream reconstituted stone, empathetic to the existing context. Exploring further reinterpretations of the local vernacular, there is a vast range of variation in terms of brick bond, mortar joint type, decorative elements and colour banding, which the proposal adopts.