Elsley House is an elegant art deco building, just a short walk from Oxford Circus, constructed in the 1930s for the garment industry. With beautiful original glazing details and internal courtyard setting, it is popular with media and technology companies wanting a central London base.
Our clients are, in contrast, a private investment firm, but – a decade after we fitted out their original office in Knightsbridge – were eager to move away from traditional corporate office styling. Their brief to us was to create a more contemporary look for their fifth-floor offices, appropriate to this new location in Fitzrovia.
We designed a range of characterful spaces – lounge areas, meeting rooms, open-plan offices and breakout areas – unified by warm materials and design elements. Throughout, we used bespoke dark timber joinery, herringbone flooring, brass details and a soft colour and fabric palette.
The main office benefits from the natural light which floods in through angular rooflights above, but elsewhere – in the private work ‘pods’, for example – we chose feature lighting to give more focus and intimacy.
Floor-to-ceiling crittal-style glass partitions conceal private meeting rooms and include a fluted central band within the glazing for subtle privacy.
A staff breakout area beyond the office space has a large kitchen complete with island bar, dining table and lounge seating. Here, the colour palette has bolder tones, although the herringbone flooring remains.
At the rear of the space, we added bi-fold doors opening onto a terrace equipped with planters and outdoor furniture, overlooking the nearby All Saints Church on Margaret Street.
