Power Road Studios.

Power Road Studios.

  • Size: 25,000 sq ft.
  • Location: West London
  • Type of Project: CAT ACAT A+
  • Submarket: Greater London
  • Landlord / Tenant: Landlord

Programme:

  • Design development: 10 weeks
  • Construction: 18 weeks

 

Brief:

When Brunswick Property Partners acquired Power Road studios, their vision was to reposition the building as a creative and entrepreneurial neighbourhood working hub, with a focus on community. This stemmed into 3 simultaneous projects across the site, with varying briefs of their own. The first and most significant was the external and internal redevelopment of Studio 2 – this included extensive external works such as removal of a dated external brise soleil structure, new decoration, lighting and new exterior glazing and entrance. This created a real impact on the streetscape, and allowed Studio 2 to be more on par with the aesthetics of Power Road Studios. The CAT A internal refurbishment consisted of installation of a brand new M&E system, designed with flexibility in mind so that the unit could be split into smaller demises with ease. This was a response to the varying and unknown tenant market in the peak of the pandemic. Sophisticated and detailed teapoint and WC fittings were installed to create a high quality offering.

A CAT A+ was the second project that was undertaken at Power Road studios in the main Studio 1 building. This was conducted in one of the key units, within the main entrance at ground floor, which had been vacant for some time. The brief was to create a fully furnished plug and play solution with character, that would attract divers and creative tenants either looking for a fitted option, or used as a ‘show’ space to highlight the potential for units within the building. Bold patterns and punches of colour were used throughout to create an eye catching design through the main reception area.

The third part of the project looked at various communal areas in the existing main building. These areas targeted and refurbished to align the building with not only trends and requirements of offices currently, but also Akoya’s vision and direction around workspaces and communities. One area was the existing the café, which was disused and outdated, often sat empty. It has now been transformed into a co-working hub and breakout to encourage a sense of community within the existing tenants and encourage collaboration. Soft timbers, collaborative furniture and biophilia were used to create a core destination and central hub of the campus. Other areas included dated WC’s which now have been improved to be in line with modern expectations and reactions to the pandemic, improving the experience and offering for tenants.

 

Implementation:

All three projects were run concurrently with a carefully considered programme and subcontractor schedule, which allowed efficiencies of scale and resource to be used throughout. Due to the detail, and varied nature of this project, challenges arose in the first initial weeks around existing building services. These were tackled and developed and detailed out on site, with the project team working on site regularly to be a touch point for decisions and amendments.

 

Result / Final outcome:

The final stage of the Power Road refurbishments is a new architectural glazed walkway, connecting the two cores of the building, to improve fluidity and flow throughout the building, and again encourage collaboration and use of communal areas. This area is still under construction and will be complete alongside an outside bar and updated courtyard area, encouraged to draw tenants out of their units and collaborate and host events outside in the warmer months.

Matterport Video:

Walk around the Ground Floor space

Walk around the First Floor space

Walk around the Common Parts