Wellington House

Wellington House consists of 40,000sqft of premium Grade A office accommodation in the Savoy Conservation Area. Refurbished to the highest specification, the building also includes a remodelled and extended reception area and a rebuilt seventh floor.

Date

2012

Client

The Duchy of Lancaster

Value

£7m

jmarchitects obtained Planning consent to refurbish and extend Wellington House, including the replacement of the existing seventh floor with a contemporary lightweight steel and glass structure to create 40,000ft² of Grade A office space that takes advantage of the panoramic views across London.

Primary vertical circulation to the offices was previously provided by two 5 person passenger lifts; our proposal replaced them with two new 10 person lifts and relocated them to make them single entry and to discharge directly on to the office floor plates. This enabled them to meet current BCO standards, make the building fully DDA compliant, and increase the useable floor area by rebuilding the core and infilling the existing light well.

A translucent glass clad bridge link links the community building and teaching block and glows in the early morning and evening, making a transient journey between the two territories of the school.

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The Challenge

Wellington House required an upgrade to modernise the office entrance and reception, incorporate air conditioning and a raised floor, and address DDA inadequacies by providing lift and lavatory accommodation suitable for use by people with disabilities.

The Solution

The project involved the enlargement, re-imaging of the office entrance and reception, the rebuilding of the core and the infilling of the light well to accommodate new lifts and lavatories. The bespoke design incorporates high quality materials and contemporary design throughout.

The Outcome

The previous office accommodation had a variety of servicing solutions with irregular ceiling heights and no specific planning grid; however, during design development, a logical and more standard office environment was created and by carefully reviewing the floor construction and the window positions the office floors can now be partitioned on a 1.5m grid, enabling more efficient and organised use of the workspace.