About Arding & Hobbs

This project showcases the meticulous restoration, refurbishment, and extension of a landmark Grade II Listed building, originally a purpose-built department store from 1910, situated at the heart of Clapham Junction.
It now houses a ground floor retail hub and characterful workspace for 1000 people, with a roof terrace offering panoramic views of London.

Layers of non-original building fabric were peeled away to reveal historic features, including the spectacular stained-glass dome and a large barrel-vaulted stained-glass roof previously concealed by many layers of paint.
The Debenhams fit-out interrupted the legibility of the floors, now opened up to improve flexibility and daylight penetration. A top-lit atrium in the centre of the building further improves daylight, with new escalators providing interconnectivity between floors and creating opportunities for social interaction.

The street level experience has been dramatically improved by the removal of a concrete canopy installed in the 1970s. The restoration of the facades along with the new retail frontages has restored the original look of the building and re-energised the streetscape, attracting a range of dynamic retail and leisure operators.

The overwhelming response from over 1,000 submissions during the public consultation underscores the project's significance and the community's strong desire to see this building thoughtfully restored.

Arding & Hobbs is now rated BREEAM Excellent, with the all-electric HVAC performing 36.6% better than the notional baseline building. The building has a carbon intensity of 584.1 kgCO2/m2, significantly below the 750 kgCO2/m2 target for the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge.