Chris Simmons, Associate Director at London-based architecture practice Squire & Partners, explains the use of colour and historic elements in the transformation of a dilapidated Edwardian department store into their new office.

What are The Department Store’s key interior design features?

Stripping the building back to its raw state revealed a decayed grandeur and its original artisans’ extraordinary commitment to craft and detail. We highlighted these elements – in their found state – and exposed remnants left by more recent inhabitants, while adding contemporary interventions.

How did the building’s history inform your design?

We preserved things like original 111-year-old mahogany and teak parquet flooring, a grand tiled central staircase, cast iron radiators and a remarkable patina of colours. To reveal the building’s use (or misuse), we retained some artworks and graffiti tags left by recent squatters.

The building’s historical purpose as a department store informed the office layout, allowing us to reveal the many facets of design undertaken by the practice and to expose the process of craft and making. Project areas act as evolving ‘concessions’ - showcases to the process of design and development. 

How did you use the existing colours and finishes in your refurbishment?

Original mouldings, metal structure, metal Crittall doors, parquet flooring and ‘Verdigris’ copper green coloured wall finishes are visible today, alongside marble, stone and brick, which constitute the finish for walls and floors.

These remain exposed, with new interventions (the lift lobby, a new brass handrail, signage, lighting systems, desks and services) in black, gold and copper.

When an existing lift shaft was removed, we found a mahogany grand central stair, with decorative metalwork, carved handrails and green patterned tiles. This green has informed the presence of green elsewhere, such as in the lift cars and two armchairs in reception. 

What role do colours and finishes have in the studio’s projects?

Our work is always drawn from context, leading to many interesting and unexpected uses of colour. It’s used as an accent or to highlight a special element or moment in the building or on the façade. 

The façade of our Notting Hill Gate North office project has a palette of blue handmade terracotta ‘baguettes’, informed by a terrace of properties opposite, and referencing Notting Hill’s history with potteries. At our residential development on Soho’s Berwick Street, the façade references the colours found in the adjacent street market, and echoes the area’s Victorian glazed tiles.

How has your new home impacted on how you work?

The generously proportioned and flexible spaces provide more desks than required, and auxiliary spaces that enable collaboration and learning. For example, we hold weekly design reviews in a big pin-up space on the second floor, and at lunchtime, staff use the Upstairs restaurant and bar as their canteen, allowing strong social connections to emerge.