What made this project… Ice Factory by Buckley Gray Yeoman

Buckley Gray Yeoman’s body of work made the shortlist at last year’s AYAs, as the practice was named a finalist for two awards, including Refurbishment Architect of the Year.

In this series, we take a look at one of the team’s entry projects and ask the firm’s board director, Andrew Henriques, to break down some of the biggest specification challenges that needed to be overcome.

What were the key requirements of the client’s brief? How did you meet these both through design and specification?

27 Eccleston Place is about the adaptation, reuse and extension of a 19th century industrial brick building set in the heart of London’s trendy Belgravia. We were appointed by the Grosvenor Estate in 2018 to consider how the building could be repurposed for workplace, retail and restaurant use. This followed the success of the Eccleston Yards project on the same urban block.

We arrived at a brick building with great industrial DNA. Its character has evolved through various adaptations and extensions spanning 150 years, starting with a warehouse, changing to an ice store, and a car repair garage in that timescale.

Every historical adaptation has left an imprint on the external fabric. These architectural records are revealed in the variety of brickwork, brick colour, brick coursing types and patch repair infills visible on the external walls, which become architectural tide marks.

We borrowed this honest approach to layering for the new brick addition, informed by the notion of celebrating the new intervention without losing the reference to the building’s past. A new brick insertion was conceived, ensuring the new extensions were sympathetic to the host building, with the new brick blend selected based on the tonal qualities of the host brick architecture.

We worked the site’s orientation to bring daylight into the deeper parts of the plan. Its distinctive roof shape evolved from our daylight studies that culminated in the expression of the sawtooth, a poet nod to traditional factory roofs, the building’s heritage, as well as functionally minimising solar gain through its north-facing orientation. The expression of a contemporary brick portal quartet gives the building a unique angular hat and a new identity.

What were the biggest specification challenges on the project and how were these overcome?

The main challenge was balancing heritage qualities with modern performance requirements whilst creating a flexible, adaptable building for future change. This was addressed through:

• Careful specification of brickwork and brickwork bonds with subtle tonal differences to distinguish the original envelope from the new facades and infills.
• Integration of saw-tooth roofline with factory-style roof lights that face north to maximise natural light whilst minimising solar gain.
• Implementation of all-electric heating and cooling systems.
• Installation of rooftop photovoltaic panels.
• Thermal upgrade of original fabric without compromising the architectural intent. This was achieved by introducing internal insulation.
• Determining what fabric has intrinsic value and should be retained for reuse in the redevelopment versus what is redundant and could be recycled.
• Ensuring the floors are designed as loose-fit with easy access to services and column grids that allow for future modifications to fit out.

What are the three biggest specification considerations for the project type? How did these specifically apply to your project?

• Retaining and adapting/modifying the existing industrial fabric. This included the original steelwork, brick facades and concrete base. Much of the fabric was in a poor state through decades of neglect, natural weathering and poor construction. Bringing these back to life and meeting today’s modern standards for thermal and environmental comfort was key to improving air tightness and the fabric’s thermal properties.
• Inserting new massing within the retained building fabric. It is essential to ensure the building’s lines of intervention are clearly legible for both new and original fabric.
• Achieving the correct glazing proportion and ensuring these balance the needs to bring daylight to deeper plan areas whilst being sensitive to neighbouring listed buildings and not exceeding required energy targets.

Do you have a favourite product or material that was specified on the project?

The brickwork. They were produced by a British brick manufacturer called Charnwood.

Are there any suppliers you collaborated with on the project that contributed significantly?

The project involved collaboration with several key consultants, including:

• Collins Construction (Contractor)
• Heyne Tillett Steel (Structural Engineers)
• HDR (M&E Consultant)
• Donald Insall Associates (Heritage Consultant)
• Tuffin Ferraby Taylor (Sustainability Consultant)
• Lazenby (Polished concrete flooring)
• Langsdale (Specialist brickwork contractor)

What did you think was the biggest success on the project?

The most significant achievement appears to be the successful transformation of a 19th century industrial building into a modern, sustainable workspace whilst celebrating its traditional architectural characteristics. The new additions continue the retrofit narrative inherent to the building, a process that has seen the building embrace change and evolve over the past 150 years. Therefore, the project exemplifies how industrial heritage buildings can be successfully adapted to balance heritage and environmental standards.

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