“ The design language looked right back to the site ’ s interesting history in the 18th century ,
when the gardens were little more than a wasteland on the edge of the city .
SPACEINVADER doing anything but passing straight on through the speedgates , in spite of a few additional arrangements of loose furniture serving as waiting areas . The double height diagonal void through the ground and first floors of the building was also not utilised to its best advantage .
‘ There was a great opportunity here ’ John Williams added , ‘ to turn the personality of the offer around , working with rather than against the building . A new interior that was properly integrated with the building ’ s stature , location and material palette was called for , to make the most of the great corner location and views out . This was evidently a well-established building with real potential for change .’
SpaceInvader were commissioned by Legal & General for the concept stage of the project and then novated across to commercial interior design , build and delivery specialist ADT Workplace for the construction delivery stage . The scheme ’ s project managers were Paragon . The full scope of interior design works covered the entrance , reception and atrium areas , a new upper basement bike store with adjacent changing rooms and shower space , the building ’ s lift core and circulation areas and a refreshed design for the non-tenanted office spaces on the third and fourth floors . SpaceInvader also designed the scheme ’ s wayfinding .
DESIGN CONCEPT
At the heart of SpaceInvader ’ s concept was the idea of creating a new community culture for One Piccadilly Gardens , featuring a series of attractive spaces for people to sit , relax , meet and collaborate . The mix of people coming in and using these areas is diverse , including tenants , their clients , prospective tenants and other visitors . The new design sought to create moments for pause and reflection as well as places for catching up and ad hoc encounters . Alluding to the site ’ s rich history , the design also needed to be timeless , with a non-exclusive appeal catering to a wide user and age-range demographic .
The design language looked right back to the site ’ s interesting history in the 18th century , when the gardens were little more than a wasteland on the edge of the city . Known as the ‘ daub holes ’, the area was home to a wet pit and ponds , from which clay for the construction of wattle and daub walls was extracted .
Roger Baker , a tailor who became rich making piccadills , lived in the area . The origin of the word is thought to be the Spanish ‘ picadillo ’, meaning pierced or punctured . Subtle references to this in the form of curves and punctures , especially using light , also formed part of our design language .’
DESIGN WALKTHROUGH ENTRANCE
The main challenge for the redesign of the entrance area was that it was quite hidden . How could a stronger sense of arrival be created , befitting a landmark space , without changing the external façade in any way ?
‘ We re-thought the entrance as a ‘ puncture ’ within the passageway , changing its hidden nature and making it stand out by the creation of a new , hanging biophilic and light installation above the entrance , set within a rectilinear LED light , which extends the full breadth of the passageway and is clearly visible from either direction of approach ’ Regina Cheng explained . ‘ We then added a new round ‘ bus stop ’ signage , using the development ’ s existing ONE logo , where all branding previously had related only to neighbouring retail and hospitality offers . We also increased the presence of the glass-front manifestation . Clear views through now ensure a new era of transparency for the interior , celebrating rather than concealing its existence .’
RECEPTION
SpaceInvader sought to create cohesion in the new reception design through a statement interior making good use of existing structure . The double-height reception space was completely re-arranged , with a new , smaller , bespoke reception desk with anodised brass details and a grey marble-finish front positioned to the side of the space , where it sits neatly in an existing alcove beneath a perimeter bulkhead , following the angles of the building and freeing up space . The reception top is dressed with a Lee Broom table lamp , linking to other feature pendant lights in the space .
‘ We were inspired both by the terracotta colour of clay and the outer red building façade when it came to creating the design palette ’, Regina Cheng , Senior Interior Designer at SpaceInvader , commented , ‘ although , as it ’ s such a strong colour , the terracotta was to be used for highlights only . We also looked at the origins of the word Piccadilly , which comes from a seventeenth-century frilled curved collar known as a piccadill .
The strong and dramatic finishes in the reception play on ideas of light and dark , as well as the idea of piercing and puncturing , with black-stained timber wall cladding and strong inset pops of terracotta . The terracotta colouring features in both the loose furniture and in the curved and straight banquette seating areas , as well as in the vertical ribbed upholstery in the standout curved nook section .
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