By Dan Flower
After 10 years in London we found ourselves split across three sites and short on space. And so began our search for a space that would mark our coming of age in Europe, and accommodate our plans for further growth. Fast forward through many viewings and some false starts, and we fell in love with the possibilities offered by Elsley House, an Art Deco building in London’s central Fitzrovia district.
Fitzrovia felt right to us, because it is a long-time home of artists, designers, makers and creative businesses. The building and its rich history spoke to us. We resolved to make this a place where creative people could come together, and where our teams and our collaborators could happen upon the moments of inspiration that make good ideas into outstanding ideas.
Great Titchfield Street was developed by the Dukes of Portland in the 18th and 19th centuries. At the southern end were warehouses built for the garment industry, and the area was colonised by creative and manufacturing industries. These included:
- The Scheemakers family of sculptors
- George Richardson, the Adam brothers’ draughtsman and publisher of ceiling designs
- Notable framers, carvers and gilders Joseph Crouzet and Benjamin Charpentier
- The painter John Varley, whose friend William Blake produced his ‘Visionary Heads’ drawings here
- Brushmakers Titterton & Howard
The largest business the street belonged to Thomas Elsley. Elsley employed 60 people making fireplaces and other art metalwork for leading architects, as well as structural and security metalwork.
The business did not long survive Elsley’s death, but buildings on the site bear his name to this day. Elsley House and its neighbour Elsley Court were designed by Waite & Waite architects in 1936–7 for the site of Elsley’s original ironmongers, and the spaces within were let to small garment businesses.
We very much felt that we were continuing the legacy of the area’s long line of craftspeople and makers, and were keen to make stimulating creative energy core to our design.
As we were taking two floors, including the lower ground, we worked with the landlords to align their stripout works with our design which included opening up a structural bay in the centre of the plan and revising the staircase design to a single flight. To maximise natural light, we introduced roof-lights above the lower ground workstations directing natural light deep within the floorplate, connecting the studio spaces around a central double-height presentation/display space.
We wanted to feature some of the historical fabric of the building. As the building was stripped back to reveal its original character, a simple palette of black, white and natural brick evolved. The space was to be a blank canvas for the working process. Strip-out work uncovered some interesting original materials, so the design was adapted to make a feature of the heritage brickwork. Riveted steel columns were uncovered and restored, paying homage to the building’s industrial heritage, with all metal finished in matt black. We restored the original Crittall glazed windows in the main studio.