Project location: London

Shepherdess Walk

Shepherdess Walk in Shoreditch reinterprets the London terrace through a contemporary approach to collective housing, delivering five apartments and three houses on a compact corner site for Solidspace. Designed by Jaccaud Zein Architects, the project balances contextual sensitivity with innovation.

Externally, it is distinguished by the UK’s first use of 70mm Belgian Vande Mortel bricks, carefully chosen to echo the tones of traditional London Stock. Subtle mortar banding creates a refined sense of rhythm across the façades, while seven bespoke special-shaped bricks enable exacting detailing at corners, soffits, and reveals. Deep window recesses, bronze balustrades and crisp concrete copings complete the crafted finish, ensuring the development responds to its Victorian neighbours with precision and permanence.

Project

127 Kensington

127 Kensington is a transformative retrofit of a former 1970s department store on Kensington High Street into a contemporary, sustainable workplace. The mixed-use scheme enhances not only the architecture and interior environment but also the public realm, reinstatins a historic retail arcade and improving connectivity to the adjacent Underground station. The redevelopment included stripping the structure back to its concrete frame, extending it to the street edge, and designing new facades in Petersen Kolumba brick and pale Moleanos stone – materials chosen to complement Kensington’s architectural heritage.

A remodelled five-storey elevation fronts the high street, while a stepped, landscaped side façade introduces garden terraces that provide privacy and greenery in a dense urban setting. Internally, the space blends refined natural materials – Petersen K91 brick, timber, copper, and concrete – with high-performance environmental systems. Openable façade panels, air source heat pumps, photovoltaics, and intelligent controls contribute to the project’s environmental credentials. The result is a workplace that delivers on both technical and occupant wellbeing.

Project

38 Northampton Road

Located in the heart of Clerkenwell, 38 Northampton Road is a dynamic showroom and workspace designed for international furniture brand Orangebox, adjacent to the Grade I-listed Finsbury Health Centre. Designed by Ben Adams Architects, the building reinterprets the warehouse typology of the surrounding conservation area with a modern, material-led approach. The scheme addressed both the character of its irregular urban site and the evolving demands of 21st-century workplace design.

Externally, a variegated Petersen D78 brick façade creates visual continuity with neighbouring Victorian fabric while offering a refined, contemporary expression. Monumental two-and-a-half-storey windows rise from street level, framed by bold black reveals, establishing strong visual permeability between interior activity and public realm. The building wraps around a mature tree to form a shaded, setback courtyard, serving as a quiet threshold to the interior.

Inside, raw concrete slabs, flint-exposed flooring, and whitewashed larch finishes provide a robust yet tactile environment. The spatial sequence is defined by a sculptural helical staircase that connects flexible floorplates arranged around the building’s shifting geometry. A series of landscaped roof terraces complete the vertical journey, opening views across Clerkenwell’s historic skyline.

Project

Manor House

This extensive restoration of a Grade II listed country Manor House in London transforms a neglected estate into a grand, modern family residence. The design sensitively reinstates lost period features while introducing discreet contemporary additions, including a subterranean extension housing an 18-metre swimming pool, spa, and entertaining areas. Underutilised roof spaces were converted to accommodate new bedrooms, and a fragmented internal layout was reconfigured to achieve a more fluid and liveable home.

Externally, traditional materials were carefully selected to ensure visual continuity with the house’s heritage, while modern services were discreetly integrated for energy efficiency and comfort. The surrounding gardens were also reimagined through a collaboration with landscape designers Randle Siddeley, completing a holistic update of the entire estate.