A historic East End warehouse transformed to office space.
Pennington Street Warehouse, by architects JTP, is a project which involved the conversion of a Grade II Listed warehouse at London Dock into a contemporary workspace for JTP’s own architectural practice. Rayward was appointed to deliver bespoke staircases and a new mezzanine level.
JTP chose Rayward for our ability to manage every aspect of the work and our technical expertise in finding innovative solutions; this was essential in a challenging historic building which dates back to 1804 and once stored imported goods such as rum.
The vision was to preserve and enhance the character of this iconic warehouse, while delivering high-quality modern office space. Despite the complexity of the work, there was a very tight timescale for completion; we completed the fabrication off site within six weeks and installation of the main structure within eight weeks.
An old building, where nothing is level or square, brings plenty of challenges. To get access to the space, we needed to construct a 20-ton steel work frame, forming the mezzanine floor, to sit inside the building without cutting into the building to reach the stairwell.
We designed the frame in individual pieces and built it internally to avoid the problem of getting it through the doorways. Issues with the varying levels were addressed by custom designing individual support posts. A special mini spider crane which fits through small openings and then opens out once in position was used to install the part of the steel frame and the ground top basement staircase.
Using coated steel and European oak for a striking effect, we created three bespoke staircases and a large bespoke mezzanine deck. The underside of the mezzanine has been left exposed and the pine joists and birch-faced ply deck are visible from below. Great care was taken to achieve an uncluttered design for the mezzanine through simple yet effective detailing.
The work was completed on time and our close collaboration with JTP on design resulted in a seamless fitting and installation process. The transformed rum warehouse now provides superb office space for JTP’s team.
Marcus Adams, Managing Partner of JTP commented
“Retaining the character and heritage of Pennington Street Warehouse was integral to the design for our new office space. Rayward Installations understood our vision immediately and the results are stunning; this is now a distinctive, appealing environment that our team and our clients can enjoy.”
