Practice’s 2007 refurbishment of 55 Baker Street in Marylebone was firm’s first major scheme to complete
Make Architects has been given the green light for plans to return to the site of its first major project for a second retrofit scheme.
Westminster council has voted to approve the firm’s proposals to add an extra storey to 55 Baker Street, the 71,000sq m office block in Marylebone which underwent a major refurbishment in 2007 led by Make founder Ken Shuttleworth.
The transformation of the 1950s former Marks & Spencer headquarters was the first large job completed by the practice after Shuttleworth left Foster & Partners to set up Make in 2004.
The scheme infilled three courtyards of the modernist building with new office space fronted by three monumental glazed facades, described by the practice as “masks”.
These will be retained under its plans for a second retrofit of the site for London & Regional Properties, while an extra storey added during the 2007 renovation would be demolished and replaced and an additional ninth storey built on top.
The new eighth storey would have a much larger footprint that the existing set back storey, covering the entire floor of the building, while the new ninth floor will be slightly smaller and contain the building’s plant.
Two stair cores at the rear side of the building will be enlarged to accommodate the fire-fighting requirements of the building’s increased height, and glazing on all upper floors will be replaced to improve thermal performance.
The scheme is set to add around 5,000sq m of office space to the building, bringing it to a total floorspace of 76,300 sq m, along with an extensive series of landscaped roof gardens.
It will also transform the building’s entrance, replacing the existing single-height lobby with a double-height space filled with lush planting and trees designed by landscape architect Gillespies.
Make said its objective for the scheme is to deliver a “high quality, low-carbon workplace retrofit that aligns with best practice in sustainability and the climate agenda”.
The project team also includes Quantem on costs, Expedition on structures, Cundall on MEP and sustainability, DP9 on planning, Wintech on facades and Tavernor on townscape.
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