Excited to announce that The Fisheries has been voted for by the people of Hackney as the Winner of the ‘People’s Choice Award’ in the 2020 Hackney Design Awards.
Excited to announce that The Fisheries has been voted for by the people of Hackney as the Winner of the ‘People’s Choice Award’ in the 2020 Hackney Design Awards.
The design brief for both Warner Cox and Hollaway was simple: to create a building that increased the happiness of people both in and around it. A building that doesn’t just look good, but feels good too.
The purpose built co-working space is home to 400 members who enjoy the benefits of large open and communal spaces, over 1000 indoor plants, a podcast studio, photograph studio, library and events space. The architectural structure of the space allows for easy flow between areas which were deliberately designed to look and feel different, allowing members to work in a number of ways to suit their mood.
Each residential flat has an individual layout, maximising the feeling of space. We used handmade kitchens from Andrew Stanley in Hackney Wick, reclaimed parquet flooring to the communal areas and mixed width French Oak Barnwood flooring in the living areas to reflect the semi industrial heritage of both the building and the surrounding area. In addition, we sandblasted the exposed concrete ceilings to maximise the sense of volume and used reclaimed brick slips to add instant charm.
The Fisheries is a classic example of a client-led design. Having lived in the area for 30 years, and with a background in hospitality, the client drove a design consisting of two halves, a lower brick plinth to match the existing Mentmore Studios and draping, upper residential half of the building in a black mesh shroud.
Some buildings exist in a perfect balance of time and space: connected to the past yet absolutely of the present. They succeed not only due to the formal merit in their design, but because they work right here, right now, and have a sense of purpose for the future. We think The Fisheries is one such building; it’s a small and highly relevant mixed-use scheme, one that pays tribute to its previous tenant R Green Fisheries, and nods to numerous uses and people the site has housed over its many years.