Leroy House

The extensions and improvements to Workspace Group's Leroy House will provide an additional 1,888 sqm of office, workshop and studio space - with a new ground floor cafe facility and increased area given over to the public realm. The varied range of office floorplates presents a flexible scheme with the potential to attract a variety of tenants, the majority being units for small businesses.

Piercy&Company drew from the architectural language of the listed St Paul's opposite and the setting of Cannonbury Conservation Area, while pushing and pulling the massing in response to nearby residential uses. A light warm brick picks up the texture and modulations of the existing building facade and reference the colour of the white Gault brick of St Paul's. The warmth of the material palette is enhanced by the articulation of the facades and fenestration with a level of detail which works at both urban and human scale.

An important move was to animate the street frontage along Essex Road, formerly a car park. A public cafe will occupy the majority of the ground floor of the new side extension. This, along with increased public realm at street level, serves to connect the building more successfully to the neighbourhood.