About The Building
Backing onto Regent’s Canal, the Orsman Road project uses a combination of cellular steel beams and steel columns, as well as CLT floor decks. This has helped achieve a wide, expansive office space and has given BBRE maximum usage from its site.
The Brief
The project brief called for a sustainable structure that would maximise the space available and allow for a speedy construction process, as a result the client was able to maximise their return on investment by letting the space earlier. Designed by timber advocates, Waugh Thistleton Architects, this flagship commercial space has been developed in linewith Hackney’s ‘Timber First’ policy.
Solution & Results
In a site-specific structural system, the building’s core, walls, stairs and floors are formed using 6,770m² of high-grade cross laminated timber manufactured by Binderholz, which allowed B&K Structures to construct a lighter, better quality building within a limited time schedule, with reduced foundations and fewer site deliveries.
The material itself contributes to the thermal insulation and acoustic properties and has verifiable health benefits. The timber structure locks carbon within its fabric, an intrinsically sustainable and contemporary approach that produces high-quality, high-performance buildings.
The south-facing elevation is stepped to preserve long views down Orsman Road, with deep-set, ribbon-like windows to minimise solar gain. Its north-facing facade, a lightweight curtain wall system with opening windows, creates an animated canal frontage, allowing for ventilation ducts and Juliette balconies.
The stepped-back upper floors create large terraces overlooking the canal and the city to the south. The expansive floor-to-ceiling heights create an airy contemporary atmosphere, and the spacious entranceway opens to an expansive reception area, creating impact that is enhanced by long views of the canal. Inside, the exposed timber floor slabs bring a current industrial aesthetic.