Future-Facing Development at Technique in London

Collaboration

The enthusiasm for the possibilities with our WasteBasedBricks® led to a confirmed collaboration between StoneCycling, Buckley Gray Yeoman, General Projects and Graham in the spring of 2020.

The Amsterdam-based Italian creative studio Formafantasma re-conceptualised the traditional office lobby, introducing radical ideas and repurposed materials.

The fully refurbished development of Technique offers 74,000 square feet of modern workspace and retail, over six stories with high ceilings and generous open volumes, to accommodate more than 850 people, as well as 5,000 square feet of affordable office space dedicated to small businesses.

132 Goswell Road, Clerkenwell

Laser House, the existing building at 132 Goswell Road, was built in the 1960s to replace a gin distillery, one of the many clustered in Clerkenwell. The corner plot enclosed by the new building was occupied by a public house.

The project began with the reinvention of the two historic buildings, seamlessly stitching them together, with a new ‘infill’ building establishing a dynamic new architectural language.

The frontage on Goswell Road has been dramatised by a new infill that forms the heart of the project.

Sustainable Grey Brick

With the Mushroom WasteBasedBrick® we used for the COS project as a reference, we started working with the architects of BGY towards a nuance in colour they would like to see in this part of the building.

This resulted in changing the recipe and production method of the Mushroom slightly to allow for a larger variation in grey tones.

Radical in design and use of materials, General Projects sets a new benchmark for sustainability and defines a new model for workspaces built on respect and responsibility with Technique.

Adaptive Reuse

To go against the waste of energy and resources involved in tearing down existing buildings, the project set out to be centred around adaptive reuse and sustainability.

Three entirely new floors have been built using super-performing glue and cross-laminated timber structural components, sourced from sustainably managed forests, resulting in a 43% reduction in carbon emissions.

Structural elements of the CLT addition have been pre-fabricated off-site and assembled on-site, cutting site traffic by 70%.

Technique will be topped with 10,000 square feet of green roof, increasing local biodiversity and reducing the heat island effect.

A new sunken courtyard brings natural light down to a flexible commercial unit of 6,350 square feet on the ground and lower-ground floors.

The building is set to achieve a BREEAM Excellent sustainability rating, a rare achievement for a refurbished building.