The practice received unanimous consent last week (11 December) from Camden Council for the refurbishment of a Richard Seifert & Partners office building at 120 Holborn, on the corner of Holborn Circus.
Developed for United Ventures Investments, the proposal is to retain more than 90 per cent of the existing 1970s building – which was remodelled in 2015 – in an approach that Morris+Company describe as ‘radical retention’.
A series of ‘bold interventions’ will see the creation of an expanded reception, added workspaces, rooftop terraces, and a new ‘high-performance’ façade with distinctive red cladding designed to reinstate the aesthetic presence of the building.
The façade also provides larger windows while helping deliver larger floor plates, the practice says. Two additional floors will be created, as well as a new block to the western edge of the existing structure.
The refurbished building is intended to meet a Platinum WELL standard, an Outstanding BREEAM rating and NABERS 5*, which would result in a sustainable ‘office of the future’, according to the architects.
Visualisation of approved Morris+Co 120 Holborn office refurb
Morris+Company founder and director Joe Morris said: ‘The project represents our continuing investment in championing the critical role holistic retrofit plays in addressing the many issues we face in our cities.’
Morris also pointed to a ‘much-improved thermal performance’, which will lock in already banked embodied carbon to significantly reduce operational costs and dramatically improve overall performance.
The office sits immediately to the east of the Grade II*-listed Waterhouse Square office building, which features a red brick and terracotta façade.
Historic England, while raising no formal objection to the consented scheme, did note that the plan for 120 Holborn would undermine the presence of Waterhouse Square, in terms of its larger size and bold red brick cladding which would ‘compete with the distinctive materiality of the listed building’.