HOUSE OF HEARST
Client: Hearst
Value: Confidential
Status: Completed
OVERVIEW:
At the time, our third consecutive commission by the iconic Hearst publishing house was to deliver a complete spatial redesign and interior fit out across all five floors in their flagship 70,915sqft House of Hearst headquarters in Leicester Square, London.
COMMUNITY IMPACT/VALUE:
Our creation of seven new individual and team working spaces focused on a restructured publishing house culture that moved Hearst away from the solo desk and outdated siloed configuration. Biophilic design principles underpinned the wider holistically sustainable approach, transforming the Workplace through natural materials and use of daylight. Over 200 large scale multi-species of plant life was playfully used throughout, ensuring each of the six repurposed entrance foyers better supported movement, wellbeing, collaborative working and a re-invigorated and exciting social congregation space.
TECHNICAL INSIGHTS/CHALLENGES:
Designed and delivered during a national period of Covid-19 lockdown, our first principles approached to the CAT B sustainable retrofit approach reused over 95% of existing building materials, making up 76% of all used materials in the project. These bespoke designs met the clients exacting standards of finish and drove innovation.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:
The scheme delivered over 50% embodied carbon, saving during construction whilst maintaining operational continuity for all digital publishing. Our adopted Client informed post occupancy analysis models at 3, 6, 9 and 12 month intervals has mapped a similar percentage in operation carbon energy saving. User feedback and technical data has allowed informed decisions for additional layout adoption and budgeting to evolve the new setup and structure in this dynamic industry leading, future of work environment.