Clerkenwell office | Hawkins\Brown

Hawkins\Brown has renovated a former lift factory in Clerkenwell, London to be its new headquarters after outgrowing its previous office space. The practice, which has seen staff numbers rise by 53% over the last year to total 123 in January 2014, designed the new 1,200sq m studios to reflect its own working methods. The rise in workload, both in the UK and abroad, comes following a series of high-profile project wins including the conversion of the 2012 Olympic media centre into Here East (formerly iCity) digital hub and three major projects in China. Commenting on the design of the new studio, Morag Morrison, partner at Hawkins\Brown, said: “Staff welfare is top of the agenda, with everything from ample indoor bike storage, showers, table tennis, a canteen and informal break-out spaces catered for.” The new studio, located at 159 St. John Street and around the corner from the firm’s former office, sits over two levels and is connected by a new steel staircase. Working areas are split into quiet desk spaces with acoustic baffles overhead and more lively, collaborative spaces for team working. Each one of the four meeting rooms has been given its own identity and are named ‘The Cloud’, ‘The Hive’, ‘The Ampersand’ and ‘The Little Room’, reflecting different influences on Hawkins\Brown work, from the spatial awareness of Frank Duffy to the decadence of Tom Dixon. “Many of the furniture types, including meeting pods, high-backed sofas and quiet laptop armchairs are the same as we recommend to our clients – now we can bring them into our studio,” adds Morrison.