Piercy & Company’s uplifting refit for a London developer’s Savile Row HQ

Derwent London has built a reputation as one of the UK’s more forward-thinking property developers. Since its foundation in the mid-1980s, the company is as adept at working within London’s historic fabric as it is at giving new life to tired slices of mundane modernism. Projects include the game-changing Angel Building in Islington, Shoreditch’s fashionable Tea Building and the new White Collar Factory, looming above Old Street’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’. So when it came to updating its own Savile Row HQ, the pressure was on to create a true showcase for its enlightened approach. The project was undertaken by Piercy & Company – which also built the Turnmill building in Clerkenwell for Derwent London – and the result is a warm, inviting and carefully crafted office, neatly tailored for the developer’s day-to-day operations.
A screenprint by Victor Pasmore, Points of Contact No. 17 (1974), hangs in the meeting room.
Derwent London already owned the original art deco Mayfair building, with its offices occupying the upper two floors. These had been fitted out by Squire & Partners at the turn of the century, but more space was needed for the company’s team of 90. Although there was a lucrative opportunity to convert the space into flats, the company felt a need ‘to practise what it preached’. As design manager Tim Hyman explains, ‘we were doing our own house in effect – it was a personal project for us’. While architect Stuart Piercy describes the project as a Gesamtkunstwerk, Hyman is more prosaic, observing that the design covers everything ‘from the concrete to the cutlery’.
The new spaces are arranged around the structure of the company, with a ground-floor reception and meeting area designed to impress, not overwhelm. A new top-hung staircase rises up through an atrium carved out of the existing floor plan, making a beautiful – and expensive – statement, given the amount of pricey floor space that had to be removed for its installation. The developers are unrepentant. The upper floors give long views across Boyle Street and down Old Burlington Street towards the Royal Academy, while the stair void is flanked by the directors’ offices, rising up the atrium like a series of display cases.
A winter garden on the first floor forms a social and entertaining space.
‘It’s very calm, very laid back, with all the modern artisanship that we like. We didn’t want it to be overly corporate,’ Hyman says, while Piercy adds: ‘It’s quite good to stay on the right side of ostentatious.’ The budget was hardly parsimonious, and as a result the attention to detail is superb. The millimetre-perfect alignments of every Dinesen floorboard, the fluted cladding on the walls, the bookmatched patterns on the travertine marble and the lashings of Bill Amberg leather give the ground floor the feeling of an exquisite piece of cabinetry. Derwent’s contact book certainly helped. ‘It’s like having your favourite chef cook your favourite meal with your favourite ingredients,’ Hyman muses. Adds Piercy, ‘We’ve done many one-off houses, so we have a good understanding of materials.’ As a result, there is a sense of domestic scale in a commercial space, with materials and bespoke elements that are never outsized or unnecessarily corporate.
Derwent London is understandably delighted with the result. ‘We’ve always believed in “less is more”, and it can be more if what’s built looks absolutely beautiful,’ notes director Simon Silver from his office, which houses his collection of quirky midcentury pieces. ‘We thrive on collaborations with architects and suppliers,’ he adds. Savile Row might only represent one per cent of Derwent London’s portfolio, but it’s a showcase for three decades’ worth of creative collaborations.
As originally featured in the November 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*224)
Step behind the scenes for the ’making of’ Derwent’s new Savile Row HQ. Video: Nick Ballon
The ground floor reception area.
The ground floor reception desk was created by Piercy & Company in collaboration with Benchmark
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Piercy & Company website and the Derwent London website
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
The ultimate beach accessory? The Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin is a true meeting of minds
Fiat has teamed up with swimwear specialists Vilebrequin to create a Collector’s Edition of the pint-sized Topolino EV that pays homage to the glamour of Riviera life
-
Multi-functional furniture, integrated planting and a felt landscape shape this new office
Zeller & Moye’s new HQ space for a German IT company has been designed to accommodate every kind of office working situation, from introverted cubicles through to flexible open-plan spaces
-
Step inside a Hollywood Hills home where European design meets Californian ease
LA studio Broad Project takes us inside its cinematic renovation of a 1960s Spanish Revival home in the Hollywood Hills
-
Shard Place offers residents the chance to live in the shadow of London’s tallest building
The 27-storey tower from Renzo Piano Building Workshop joins The Shard and The News Building to complete Shard Quarter, providing a sophisticated setting for renters
-
Kengo Kuma’s ‘Paper Clouds’ in London is a ‘poem’ celebrating washi paper in construction
‘Paper Clouds’, an installation by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is a poetic design that furthers research into the use of washi paper in construction
-
Foster + Partners to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
For the Queen Elizabeth II memorial, Foster + Partners designs proposal includes a new bridge, gates, gardens and figurative sculptures in St James’ Park
-
Wolves Lane Centre brings greenery, growing and grass roots together
Wolves Lane Centre, a new, green community hub in north London by Material Cultures and Studio Gil, brings to the fore natural materials and a spirit of togetherness
-
A new London exhibition explores the legacy of Centre Pompidou architect Richard Rogers
‘Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings’ – opening tomorrow at Sir John Soane’s Museum – examines Rogers’ high-tech icons, which proposed a democratic future for architecture
-
At the Royal Academy summer show, architecture and art combine as never before
The Royal Academy summer show is about to open in London; we toured the iconic annual exhibition and spoke to its curator for architecture, Farshid Moussavi
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshop
New Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on life
Thanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being reborn as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend