1 James Street, Reception Area
New Entrance and Reception, London
The building houses the UK headquarters of our client, Redevco. Offices sit over a flagship store on Oxford Street with the entrance on the corner of James St and Barrett St, overlooking St Christopher’s Place. The new design replaces the former copper clad projecting box dating from the 1960's with a contemporary form sympathetic to style of the 1960’s host building. The new glazed box and enhanced volume to the reception hall creates more visibility into the double height lobby and a more inclusive entrance, improving permeability between the public and private realm
The glazed box element consists of fritted low iron glass panels 6.0m high with internal glass fins, curved corner framed by a simple steel channel. The original revolving entrance doors have been replaced by a simple glazed lobby on the corner, set back from the pavement to create a threshold. Externally ceramic tiles have been replaced by glass and limestone.
The reception hall is a double height space with a mezzanine overlooking the street. The volume is accentuated by a slatted Cherrywood screen and raft at the rear of the reception desk and strips of tadelakt plaster extending from the lift doors to the ceiling slab over. The light feature was salvaged from the original reception, the fittings cleaned, relamped and rehung to suit the new space
The reception desk is of micro-cement and cherry. The orange of the tadelakt is contrasted by the rich dark blue leather cushion to the microcement bench seat. Other walls are white stucco and the floor limestone. The stairway to the mezzanine level is refashioned with walnut and micro-cement treads and risers, a recessed light detail and a refined steel rod balustrade capped with an oak handrail
