Soho House has opened the doors to Redchurch Townhouse in Shoreditch, joining Dean Street Townhouse and Kettner’s Townhouse in Soho, which are all open to the public.
Situated in the heart of Shoreditch, occupying the block bounded by Redchurch Street, Club Row and Whitby Street, the building has been designed by 31/44 Architects in a project originally commissioned by Raycliff (prior to a partnership with Soho House). It comprises 2,380mof floor space over five floors with interior design by Soho House Design.
Project Name: Redchurch Townhouse
Architect Name: 31-44 Architects
City: London|
Will Burges on left
Stephen Davies on right
Photographed in their studio in Whitechapel
Credit: Ivan Jones
The site went through a three-year phased redevelopment, which began in 2015. The first phase, Redchurch Corner, extended, refurbished and reclad an existing 1960s two-storey light industrial building on the corner of Redchurch Street and Club Row, into a five-storey building housing Allpress Espresso and J. Crew at street level, with 16 bedrooms above.
The site next door – a dilapidated single-storey building running through the urban block from Redchurch Street to Whitby Street – was then also acquired. This has been redeveloped as an extension to the existing bedrooms on Redchurch Corner, with a two-storey basement excavation and four/five storeys above-ground development. It more than doubles the size of the building, increasing the number of bedrooms to 37, and creating a ground floor reception and Cecconi’s restaurant.
The design of the building mediates between the predominantly Georgian architecture of Redchurch Street and the industrial character of Whitby Street. It continues the pared back design vocabulary of Redchurch Corner – which is defined by a quiet façade of charcoal concrete infill panels – whilst developing a visual and material language of its own, introducing columns on the upper floors which hint at the character of the new façade to Whitby Street.
The new Whitby Street façade – articulated by a series of columns – references the Victorian industrial typology prevalent in local warehouses and allows large openings onto the quieter mews-like street. The full-width entrance – reminiscent of a goods entrance – is set back from the street and leads directly into the reception, bar and Cecconi’s restaurant.
Designed in two phases, Redchurch Townhouse is an ensemble of buildings carefully inserted into the urban block to sustain the character of piecemeal mid-rise, narrow-fronted buildings which has come to define the neighbourhood of Shoreditch in London’s East End.
31/44 Architects
31/44 Architects is a London-based architectural practice headed by Will Burges and Stephen Davies. 31/44 refers to the practice’s two studio locations in both the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and the UK (London) when founded in 2010. The practice is now based solely in London.
Projects range in scale from strategic masterplanning through to smaller scale residential work. Buildings are characterised by a thoughtful response to context – they are not conceived in isolation, but instead grow out of the particular conditions of each setting, resulting in buildings with an inherent connection to their site whilst ensuring that they are a close reflection of their clients’ requirements.
Built works include: Wenslauer House, Amsterdam; No. 49, Lewisham; and Red House, East Dulwich. Projects in development include: a new hotel and workspace on a site which includes the former Whitechapel Bell Foundry, east London; a barn conversion in rural Norfolk; and several new-build residential developments of different scales for both private developers and private clients.
The practice featured in The Architecture Foundation’s New Architects 3, a survey of Britain’s best emerging practices from the last ten years (published in 2016) and was included in Wallpaper*s 2016 Global Architects Directory. Recent award wins include RIBA London and National Awards 2017 for No. 49 and a RIBA London Award 2018 for Red House. Red House won the British Homes Awards Manser Medal 2018 and is shortlisted for the RIBA House of the Year 2018 and for the Stephen Lawrence Prize.
Will Burges and Kate Nicklin also teach a design studio at Kingsto
www.3144architects.com