Architect：John Robertson Architects

Location：London, UK; | ;

Project Year：2021

Category：Offices

John Robertson Architects (JRA) has completed Bloom Clerkenwell, one of London’s most dynamic and prominent workspace developments in recent years, occupying a site adjacent to London’s Farringdon station.

The HB Reavis development comprises 14,500m2 of Grade A workspace across seven levels, plus 600m2 of adaptable retail areas – including cafés and other F&B offerings – and 1,400m2 of landscaped roof terraces.

JRA’s approach has focused on delivering a highly sustainable design with occupier wellbeing and sustainability concerns at its focus. The building also responds to the busy context of the Farringdon Station transportation hub with a striking main entrance at ground level providing a welcoming and engaging common space for all those entering or leaving the building.

The site was acquired by HB Reavis in July 2018 together with permission for an original scheme which JRA sought to adapt and achieve consent for with the London Borough of Islington. The majority of Bloom, Clerkenwell has been pre-let to a globally-listed, company, which will occupy floors 2 – 6. Floor 1 is dedicated to HB Reavis’ Ready to Work concept, a fully fitted and managed tech-enhanced workspace, which is already fully let.

Sitting above the newly expanded and reconfigured Farringdon station hub, Bloom’s relationship with Britain’s rail network and the fast connections offered to the East and South-East is central to the building’s design. Conceived as a marker building for the pedestrianised part of Cowcross Street, Bloom will act as a designator for both the future development of Farringdon station and for the evolution of the wider neighbourhood as a focus for media & technology-led businesses.

Other key features of the design include:

• A palette of materials comprising the building’s façades including faience, terracotta and anodised aluminium giving it a clear, contemporary, and complementary identity in relation to many of its neighbours and responding to Clerkenwell’s diverse and eclectic architectural history. Bloom’s deep-red terracotta, selected through an extensive procurement process by client HB Reavis and sourced from Palagio Engineering, complements the glazed terracotta utilised within the façade of the adjacent station building

• The façade’s colour alludes to the scarlet terracotta entrances of Leslie Green’s 44 London Underground stations designed in the early part of the 20th century, many of which have become synonymous with the overall branding of the network

• This diversity of materials is further reflected in the various types of floor finishes, furniture, landscaping designs and range of planting and lighting options used throughout the building, as well as the extensive use of neutral, and stony, coloured materials that respond to the colour palette of Farringdon Road and serve to blend the interior of the building with its external context.

• A reception area – accessed via Cowcross Street – which is distinct in its uses and character. This includes lounge and coffee bar as well as meeting and co-working spaces. It also has a façade comprising smaller, human-scale, components to engage with passers-by and create a semi- public space. With openable dividing panels between integrated retail units and the reception area, JRA’s design translates the building’s permeability with Cowcross Street into its internal structure with the reception effectively becoming an internal market-like space

• Recognising the importance of Farringdon Road as a major transport artery through London, JRA’s design has sought to soften the building’s relationship with the highway while reducing the massing of Bloom’s frontage when viewed from the north.

• Some 240 ground-floor spaces for cycles with access directly from the TFL-sponsored Cycle Superhighway 6 (along Farringdon Road) which runs past the western edge of the site. In-built shower and changing facilities are also provided

• Reflecting HB Reavis’ engagement with social value and employee wellbeing initiatives, those working in the building will be encouraged to use one of the 7th floor terraces as a focus for communal gardening and gardening workshops. Occupiers will be encouraged to grow – and consume – their own produce, while adding to Clerkenwell’s increasing quantities of ‘urban greenery’

• Bloom’s nearly 1400m2 of terrace space across the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th floors were designed in conjunction with Studio Shaw, and implemented by JRA and Weedon. These terraces reflect a change in mood and character from north to south, from looser, undefined spaces to a quieter, private ‘room’ space. They offer significant external areas for meeting and socialising. They also respect neighbouring amenity through a series of ‘human scale’ areas which help to create a sense of enclosure and intimacy within an inherently commercial setting. Impressive views across London’s skyline will encourage occupiers to engage with these terraces proactively, whether for early morning exercise classes, post-work drinks, or networking events.

• A 4th floor, 60m2, ‘Garden Room’ which can be used to host meetings or client events outdoors, throughout the year within a semi-closed space which blends Bloom’s terraces and its internal office areas.

• An aspiration to achieve the highest wellbeing, sustainability, and digital connectivity accreditations. Reflecting these aspirations, JRA’s design targets a WELL ‘Platinum’ certification, a certification scheme dedicated to advancing health, and wellbeing, in the built environment through conscious design.