Overview

The largest single office building to be built in Hammersmith for more than 20 years, the scheme provides 22,500m2 of flexible office space and 970m2 of retail space for clients Legal & General and Mitsubishi Estate. Designed in partnership with Sheppard Robson’s interior design group, ID:SR, 245 Hammersmith Road creates both a prominent architectural addition and improved public spaces in the area’s Business Improvement District. The development has been designed with flexibility at its core, allowing the building to accommodate a wide range of tenants that include science occupiers.

The design reduces the mass of the building that formerly occupied the site, to comprise two parallel wings connected by a central core, enabling flexibility to accommodate different configurations and tenants. The building is then to be stepped back from Hammersmith Road, creating opportunities for civic spaces to be integrated throughout, including a landscaped piazza, landscaped staircase and a rear podium park. Access throughout the site has been improved, creating a more open building, that feels rooted in the neighbourhood.

Collaboration

245 Hammersmith Road was a collaborative effort between the project team, clients and local community, as well as Sheppard Robson’s architectural and interiors teams. This effort is recognised by an artwork installation in the ground floor reception that is integrated within the fabric of the building. Sheppard Robson Associate Partner and artist, Patricia de Isidoro, created the installation, titled Three thousand Threads, as an homage to all the hands involved in the crafting of the building. The work features golden threads suspended between the recessed walls of the reception as a three-dimensional tapestry, welcoming viewers into the space and inviting them to reflect on the making of the building.

The interior concepts keep the development’s civic setting in mind. The ground floor functions as an extension of the public piazza, evoking a generous civic hall, while featuring a variety of more intimate settings to promote collaborative working. The interior draws on the English tradition of Arts and Crafts fused with industrial heritage, reflecting the history of the Hammersmith neighbourhood.

Engagement

At 245 Hammersmith Road, the project team engaged with the local community to positively impact the surrounding area, delivering over £28 million of social value, during and following construction. The project was awarded the ‘Social Innovation Award’ in 2021 by The Social Value Portal, demonstrating a novel and creative approach to radically improve how social value is delivered or managed.

Sustainability

245 Hammersmith Road is a leading example of moving beyond risk mitigation, towards realising net-positive gains for the environment, society and the economy by adopting regenerative design principles and redefining value, with long-term environmental and social sustainability at the heart of its design.

The designers treated the building and site as an ecosystem to be enhanced to improve both the human experience and the biodiversity of the area through much needed green space, including a landscaped piazza, podium park and roof terraces. Green features weave throughout the building and site, increasing site biodiversity through indigenous planting and creating habitat opportunities for London’s animal, bird and insect populations.

Detail

The external envelope of the building is characterised by the use of red angled anodised aluminium window surrounds, which have been specified to create a dialogue with the architectural language of the adjacent Conservation Area where terracotta brick is commonplace. Made with organic red dye, the angled aluminium panels are tailored to their orientation, minimising solar gain and providing dynamic elevations which respond to the changing levels of light during the day.