This new building, developed for Banham Group as their new headquarters, involved the demolition and replacement of an existing industrial building, and the retention and refurbishment of a stand-alone pavilion located adjacent to the River Wandle, in south London. The building is part five storeys to produce a robust built form to the high railway embankment; and part four-storey fronting onto Thornsett Road to provide an appropriate scale to the street with a legible building line and active frontage.
The building responds to its context with simple robust architecture that settles into the perspective of suburban rooftops and chimneys. The building form comprises two wings, unequal in length, which are linked by a large single storey volume. The southern corners of each of the wings are two distinct features; on Thornsett Road on the first floor, an oriel window is drawn from the face of the brickwork; and in a similar position of the railway wing on the second floor there is a cantilevered balcony connected to the staff canteen.
The selected materials are facing brick for the majority of façades, with large punched openings containing fixed-windows and opening timber faced ventilation panels to the sides.
The project won both RIBA and BCO Awards in 2016.