Some buildings have no place being where they are. No real sense of the past, no real connection with the present, and no real idea of what they mean for the future, they fail not because there is no formal merit in their design, but rather because they don’t work here, right now.
The Fisheries is not that building. On the contrary, having lived and worked in Hackney for decades, having made his living in the food and beverage industry, and being a massive advocate of WeWork culture, it was the client that drove a design consisting of two halves – architecturally as well as in terms of bringing residential and work spaces under the same roof. It was his idea to shroud much of the building in a net.
Utterly engaged, as comfortable with the big picture as he was the finer details, it made for a design and build process, of which the end result is a small and highly relevant mixed-use scheme, one that pays its dues to the fish market that once occupied its footprint, that is in every respect informed by the local, and that possesses the edge and thrust of the area. It looks the part. It feels just right. It works here, right now. It’s Hackney.
