Reform act

Pearson Lloyd’s Hackney HQ

A mismatch of old structures, from a Victorian workshop to a 1990s factory building, may not immediately jump out as the perfect place to set up a contemporary office. But Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd, founders of London-based design studio Pearson Lloyd, saw the potential in just that kind of architectural jumble at a site in east London. The pair had previously been working between two locations, but had been searching for the right spot to set up a new unified base, a bespoke, generous office to house their growing numbers and varied activities, from conventional desk working to modelling and large-scale prototype making.

Once they had acquired the site, just off Hackney Road, they started examining different ways of making the most of it. ‘The first design iteration included a complete demolition of the [original] buildings and development of a three-storey new build, with increased floor areas and the potential to create a creative hub,’ recalls Pearson. ‘However, this route led to a project that was full of compromises, increased costs and a loss of the spirit of the buildings as they were.’

The solution, they concluded, was to work with what was there, and add a new chapter to the rich history of the site, which had previously housed a range of small artisans, from a hat maker to a specialist framing business. A creative design studio felt a fitting continuation of that tradition. ‘We wanted to fully engage in the environmental benefits of refurbishment,’ says Lloyd. ‘And we are honestly delighted that we made that choice.’

North London architect Cassion Castle was tasked with helping them. ‘We have worked with Cass on different projects for many years,’ says Pearson. ‘He is very happy to work collaboratively on the design and detailing of a project. And as he acts as both architect and builder, this has allowed us to make iterative creative decisions on the

existing building structures in a very fluid and dynamic way during the build.’

Aiming to celebrate and enhance the bones of the existing buildings, the architect and client team worked meticulously through the old structures, saving what could be saved, respectfully replacing what needed to be replaced, and tailoring old and new bits according to what need dictated. A new roof was added to the 1990s wing of the complex, for example, updating the top floor with extra height, insulation and skylights; the ‘memory’ of the old one, a line on the wall, was kept, acknowledging the building’s past. ‘We approached it a bit like archaeology really, trying to decide what should be kept and what could go,’ says Castle, whose portfolio includes a mix of striking one-off houses and commercial work. ‘We wanted to impose some sort of architectural clarity on the whole building, while also embracing its history and special quality.’

Everywhere, the spirit of past lives is palpable; yet this is a contemporary building, especially in its accent on sustainability, future-proofing and accessibility. ‘Nothing is clad, nothing is rendered, we didn’t try to refinish anything. It’s like a garage space. We wanted to reduce the amount of embedded energy in the refurbishment and maintain as much of the existing fabric as possible,’ says Lloyd. The new office maximises natural light and cross-ventilation, eliminating the need for air-conditioning, as well as providing step-free access to key areas. Solar panels on the roof support energy needs. The studio is also currently developing new desking solutions to make socially-distanced working and collaborating easier and safer. The space feels very robust and more like a workshop than an office space, and the pair cite European factory campuses, Jean Prouvé and Alexander Calder as sources of inspiration.

Flexibility was key, not only because of the studio’s range of work (covering everything from graphics and product to cruise ship cabins and aircraft interiors), but also because of the challenges the ongoing pandemic brought to the mix. ‘The building needed to be flexible in its own right,’ says Pearson. ‘The whole space is now more collaborative, dynamic and open [than older offices]. Covid has also affected how we planned things. The by-product is that we can now use the space as relatively freeform and responsive.’

The finished complex combines a street-facing Victorian part, which now houses flexible gallery/event spaces, private offices and meeting rooms, and a late-20th century section, housing a workshop and an open-plan office. The two parts are brought together by a new concrete ‘bridge’ containing the main entrance, a bike park, and the project’s gestural centrepiece, a steel staircase, painted orange, that connects all floors and leads to a planted terrace.

Pearson Lloyd also put together a furniture and interiors scheme, supporting their concept for an office that is a workshop for ideas, bridging old and new. ‘We’ve carefully selected the fabric palette, but, at the same time, we didn’t want this to be a Pearson Lloyd showroom,’ says Lloyd. ‘We hope it will be a canvas for experiments.’ * pearsonlloyd.com; cassioncastle.com

‘We approached it a bit like archaeology, trying to decide what should be kept or go’

The new headquarters of design studio Pearson Lloyd, at Yorkton Workshops, just off Hackney Road in east London, was a collaborative venture with Cassion Castle Architects, and involved the transformation of a series of warehouse buildings of various ages and states of disrepair

Clockwise from left, the project’s centrepiece, an orange steel staircase, connects all floors and leads to a planted terrace; flexible gallery/event space is located on the ground floor of the Victorian part, while on the floor above are a series of meeting rooms, which feature furniture designed by Pearson Lloyd, including their ‘Peggy’ table for SCP, ‘Kin’ chairs for Allermuir and ‘Riya’ task chair for Bene