Architecture studio Turner Works has used “robust, hardworking” materials in its extension of an old textile manufacturing site in London‘s Harringay Warehouse District, transforming it into the Florentia Village creative hub.
Commissioned by developer General Projects, Turner Works added a 9290-square-metre extension to the 1970s clothes manufacturing facility to create a home for 50 creative businesses in north London.
Turner Works has created the Florentia Village creative hub
In line with the site’s industrial character, Turner Works added four steel structures in a space previously occupied by storage containers, more than doubling the complex’s original footprint.
Florentia Village now offers businesses flexible workshops, studios and industrial units ranging from 46 to 1,400 square metres, alongside community spaces and a cafe, arranged around courtyards and walkways.
Florentia Village is designed as a home for 50 creative businesses
“Our approach seeks to offer a sense of character and playfulness, supporting serious and meaningful work, using robust, hardworking materials in an elegant way,” Turner Works founding director Carl Turner told Dezeen.
“The design draws directly from the industrial vernacular of the existing maker’s spaces – we borrowed elements such as the sawtooth roof forms, varied roof pitches, clerestory windows and the use of colourful metal accents already on site,” he said.
Four new steel buildings were added to the 1970s manufacturing site
According to Turner Works, a material palette of corrugated galvanised steel, green fibre cement panels and polycarbonate glazing was chosen with durability, sustainability and industrial character in mind.
Bolted steel frames were utilised to give the new structures geometric forms, while helping to reduce construction waste and allowing for components to be dismantled and recycled at the end of their life span.
Colourful external walkways and courtyards connect spaces
The buildings are enlivened by accents of bright pink and orange, combined with playful signage, intended to echo the site’s original aesthetic, which featured bright colours around window openings.
Crowning the extension are sawtooth and monopitched roofs, oriented to maximise natural daylight and enable on-site solar energy generation.
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“Colour is a central component of the project – it ties together the old and the new, and fills the campus with personality,” said Turner.
Inside the four steel structures, each of the ground-floor workshops is equipped with a mezzanine level, intended to provide space for a combination of studio and production work.
The extension draws on the industrial history of the site
Above, smaller attic studios offering flexible workspaces are interconnected via colourful external raised walkways and courtyards.
The interiors are finished in concrete, blockwork and oriented strand board timber (OSB) panels.
Workspaces are designed to be adaptable
“For most of the units, the goal was deliberately not to impose a fixed interior design – instead, we wanted to create an adaptable backdrop to allow businesses to personalise their spaces and leave their own mark over time,” explained Turner.
“In contrast, for the reception and co-working space, we drew from the same industrial material palette, used in more refined and crafted ways,” he said.
Interior spaces are finished with concrete, blockwork and plywood
As well as the new additions designed by Turner Works, General Projects restored and upgraded the fabric of the existing 7,400-square-metre warehouse and factory space to the northeast of the site.
Turner Works is a London-based architecture and design studio established by architect Carl Turner in 2006. Elsewhere, the studio has converted a Dutch barn into a holiday home and creative retreat in the Cotswolds and extended a barn in Norfolk that is lined with oriented strand board.
The photography is by Tom Fallon.