CASSION CASTLE ARCHITECTS
The responsiveness of this approach meant that architect and designer could work together to reconcile the fabric of the building to Pearson Lloyd ’ s needs , ensuring the finished workspace was tailor-made for the practice . This has proven especially valuable in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic , as layouts could be easily adapted to accommodate social distancing and more widely distributed working areas for the Pearson Lloyd design team .
A STRATEGIC-WORKPLACE LABORATORY
For Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd , Yorkton Workshops has presented the perfect opportunity to demonstrate Pearson Lloyd ’ s design philosophy in action – by applying it to their own workspace .
Over the last 20 + years , the studio has dedicated itself to ‘ Making Design Work ’ – identifying and building functional , beautiful and efficient products , environments and systems that respond to the challenges of the day and enhance our experience of the world .
Yorkton Workshops reaffirms this commitment . Although the space is tailor-made to meet the needs of a modern-day design studio , Luke and Tom have ensured it is not locked into that role . For them , the restoration of Yorkton Workshops represents not only an investment in Pearson Lloyd ’ s future as a design practice , but in the creative fabric of London as a whole . Yorkton Workshops is effectively future-proof : it can accommodate single or multiple tenants , internal spaces can be modified to openplan or enclosed as needs change , and it is readily adaptable to manifold workplace typologies – as the ease with which Pearson Lloyd have made it Covid-secure demonstrates .
This flexibility , coupled with the sheer size of the building , have proved hugely beneficial in the creation of an effective socially distanced workplace . Pearson Lloyd ’ s team of 12 – 16 people are now spread throughout a building with scope for up to 30 . They have developed new desking solutions in-house that make working and collaborating at a distance easier , and , like many organisations emerging from lockdown , Pearson Lloyd has incorporated its learnings into the studio ’ s modus operandi , with home working and remote meetings now a permanent part of its everyday operations .
Flexibility is also key to one of the workshops ’ primary functions . As one of the leading studios in the design of workplace furniture and systems , Pearson Lloyd wanted a space at a scale where they could road-test new design concepts , prototypes and workspace solutions at scale – a real-world lab for their ideas . Featuring a number of their own furniture designs , Yorkton Workshops is in effect the realisation of Pearson Lloyd ’ s own thinking about ‘ People , Place and Product ’ – designed workplace strategy in action .
RETROFITTED , RECLAIMED , RECYCLED
Spanning five former stables-turned-workshops on Yorkton Street , Yorkton Workshops is set in an area with a long association with making and manufacture . Today , most of the premises once occupied by furniture makers , musical-instrument artisans , wood turners and other craftspeople have been replaced with residential units . The restoration of Yorkton Workshops is thus an act of preservation , reinvigorating the area ’ s design heritage , and linking Pearson Lloyd to a lineage of making that dates back over a century .
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