architectural practice
HTA Design, 2022
HTA Design, 75 Wallis Road, E9 5LN
HTA reimagined and repurposed a Victorian warehouse in Hackney Wick, East London, creating a permanent new home for its 200 London-based staff. Built in 1868 as a factory to manufacture the world’s first synthetic plastic, the warehouse originally comprised four separate buildings and was identified as a significant piece of heritage within the Hackney Wick masterplan.
Stratford
Hackney Wick
HTA Design is set back from the road to the left of The Beer Merchant's Tap.
The building is airy and quiet, it's set back from the road and is full of natural light.
18:00–20:30
75 Wallis Road is situated in Hackney Wick, an area with a history of innovation and making. Originally built in 1868, 75 Wallis Road first served as a factory for the manufacture of Parkesine, an early manmade plastic that offered an alternative to ivory and tortoiseshell, since then, the building has had many lives, as the home of cabinet maker Bernard Parker; as the store for Lesney products, the manufacturer of Dinky Toys and as a communist book warehouse. HTA acquired the building in 2020, following a ten-year search for a new home. 75 Wallis Road commanded respectful treatment to safeguard its sense of place. HTA’s approach retained and highlighted the original large span timber trusses, supporting ironwork and local brick envelope.
Our design approach retained and celebrated the hugely varied brickwork structure and the large timber and ironwork roof trusses. The addition of mezzanine floors, staircases and rooflights helped connect the four separate buildings into one seamless, fully accessible, interconnected whole workspace with added drama of huge double height spaces. The spaces within offer the variety and flexibility essential for today’s needs, but with future adaptability in mind. A muted colour palette celebrates inspired by the existing building fabric and draws on precedents and history of the surrounding context. Recycled timber and cork add to the natural finishes and as well as the reuse of all joinery and furniture from our previous home in Aldgate, optimising circularity as part of our sustainability ambitions. The result is a bright, light-filled, and calm atmosphere for staff and visitors.
HTA is opening the doors of its award winning studio for Open House Festival.
Our architects and designers will guide you around the studio, talking you through the history of the building and offering their insight into the design decisions behind the retrofit.
Drop in
community/cultural, concert/performance space, entertainment, gallery, event, walk/tour, restaurant/bar
On a site once home to a Victorian sweet factory, Grow Studios repurposed two warehouses in Main Yard, Hackney Wick in 2007. Today, they house artist studios, small independent businesses, and a working yard. The canalside warehouse - formerly a sausage factory - became home in 2014 to Grow, a grassroots music and arts venue with bars and a kitchen.
-
