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A deep retrofit of a 23,000 sq.ft flagship building on London’s Regent Street for The Crown Estate, restores, extends and revitalises the Grade II listed 12 Little Portland Street. Threefold have created an exemplary workspace to accommodate contemporary ways of working.
Threefold’s vision seeks to re-activate The Crown Estate’s existing commercial property through the creation of flexible and healthy office spaces to support greater collaboration between occupants. This approach has been applied to 12 Little Portland Street – an imposing 1920’s neo-classical office building located between Oxford Circus and Broadcasting House.
12 Little Portland Street is an exemplar of the post-Covid workplace and a showpiece of how The Crown Estate is diversifying and evolving its commercial portfolio. Moving away from a model of large single occupiers, the building has been adapted with an emphasis on smaller and more flexible and fully accessible spaces to attract a diverse occupancy mix, with inclusive and sociable layouts that suit hybrid working accompanied by amenities to support health and well-being. In parallel, the building’s fabric and services have been significantly upgraded to improve energy performance and address the circular economy.
Threefold’s approach to the deep retrofit of 12 Little Portland Street is founded on four key principles; minimising waste through auditing, preserving & re-use, restoring and celebrating heritage, future proofing fabric and enhancing efficiencies with modernised services and designing future ready workspaces which promote wellbeing.
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12 Little Portland Street is a fine Grade II Listed building with high ceilings and a shallow triple aspect floor plate. Threefold’s design celebrates the grandeur of the existing building with a full façade restoration and enhancement programme. Internally, the generous proportions of each space are maximised, window reveals are enhanced and period features refurbished and echoed within new design elements.
New sustainable services using state of the art BMS system to provide fully upgraded mechanical and electrical services have been introduced throughout the building. Heating and cooling is provided via a high efficiency recovery condenser and fresh air is distributed at high level with power and data within the retained heritage floor.
Throughout the building, Threefold’s design uses natural materials and planting to inject colour and texture into the office spaces, sensitively adapting the interiors while referencing the original heritage features of the building. Two complementary materials palettes provide visual identity and variety, with both referencing colours used in period art deco buildings, and using a range of textures including specially-designed fabric and leather upholstery to provide a comfortable, club-like look and feel to the revitalised office spaces. A carefully curated range of office furniture, fabrics, soft furnishings and artworks make the new spaces both practical and welcoming.
A key intervention has been the creation of a new roof terrace, using previously unoccupied space to provide building occupants with an exceptional outdoor facility for events, informal socialising and relaxation, high above Regent Street with exciting views of central London. Lush new planting ensures year-round foliage and supports “Wild West End” greening strategy – of which The Crown Estate is a key member – to encourage biodiversity and improve air quality. Bee blocks and bird/bat boxes have been incorporated into the external walls to support urban wildlife.
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Client: The Crown Estate
Type: Commercial
Area: 23,000 sq/ft
Status: Completed
Location: London
