When it comes to finding homes for creative businesses, authenticity and “cool” are vitally important.
So too are volume, light and character. Over the past 30 years, more and more creative businesses have demanded premises that provide these qualities.
This has attracted them to former industrial buildings that provide them with a space that is similar in spirit to the Andy Warhol Factory in New York.
In London that means they are looking for sites that were – and still are – in working-class urban areas.
After the traditional Soho and Covent Garden media locations, Clerkenwell was probably the first to establish itself as an alternative, followed by Hoxton and Shoreditch. The more visually aware developers – such as Colin Serlin’s London Buildings and Derwent London – pioneered these non-traditional locations. London Buildings created Perseverance Works in a warehouse on Hackney Road, now home to a business community of 400 people, working in areas from illustration to television editing.
Creative Clerkenwell
Derwent redeveloped Exmouth House, Clerkenwell, which attracted Nick Logan’s Face and Arena magazines as anchor tenants, followed by Morelands on Old Street, anchored by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.
The type of buildings and spaces these visionary developers created is referred to today as “industrial chic” – authenticity, never pastiche!
The other important factor is that the traditional property adage of “location, location, location” – while still often true (an example being 30 Berkeley Square in the heart of Mayfair for our client Phillips, the auction house owned by Moscow-based Mercury Group) – is not always applicable.
A new adage
A serious new adage is “architecture, architecture, tube station”, meaning that an interesting building in a tough location really can work. London’s best example is Derwent’s Tea Building,
on the corner of Shoreditch High Street and Bethnal
Green Road.
Good architecture and design attracts creative clients as occupiers. In their wake come cafés, bars, homes and restaurants.
No street in London could typify this better than Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, where the Biscuit Building, part of Tea, is home to ad agency Mother and numerous retailers.
Authenticity and cool are key: the creatives can smell whacky or trendy a million miles away, which is why London Buildings’ Highgate Studios in Kentish Town works. Nick Jones’s Pizza East, Chicken Shop and Dirty Burger recently opened to great success there, making this building, a former wallpaper factory of around 200,000 sq ft, the most sought-after for those that want to be in north-west London.
Once again, it’s authentic and cool. House architect Steve Archer of Archer Architects has created a vibrant community, along with Pilcher Hershman as the leasing agents.
Over in the west, Peter Simon, modern art collector and owner of the major fashion retail group Monsoon, has created his version at Notting Dale, along with neighbours
Stella McCartney, Mario Testino, Net A Porter et al. This has attracted numerous west London creatives, with further phases now being planned at Westfield and at the iconic former BBC Television Centre.
Catalyst for cool
The latter, now owned by Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan, is being turned into a mixed-use community. Nick Jones’s Shoreditch House will be the anchor tenant, creating a 57-bedroom hotel, rooftop pool, restaurants, bars and cafés. AHMM is the architect for both Notting Dale and Television Centre, and we are also working on both schemes.
With the authenticity and cool that was historically associated with west London, these two projects will be the catalyst to give east London a run for its money and return the cool to the west.
David Rosen, senior partner, Pilcher Hershman
Creative issue special
• Briefing: graffiti gains value for property
• Simon Allford: Creative City – home to imagination
• Peter Bill: colours make the brand
• Terence Conran: a designer for life
• The Report: alternative viewings
• The Royal Academy of Arts: the art of expansion
