Architectural studio Piercy & Co substantially refurbishes and extends an existing building at Brick Lane in Shoreditch in a bid to transform our understanding of work environment with In Opera’s assistance.
Originally two separate buildings, 42-46 Princelet Street, located to the east of Brick Lane, merged into one spacious and light-filled co-working space. In-Opera Group worked closely with Piercy & Co to create bespoke terrazzo furniture cladding and flooring for the reception area, bringing timeless Italian quality into contemporary British architecture.
The architect’s agenda to promote connection and collaboration is incorporated into every detail of the space. The building’s old industrial statement made by cast-iron columns and brick walls are now combined with warm tones of fabric upholstery and timber for furniture and floors. A new winding stair within the atrium provides a dynamic central space, enhancing natural light, creating connections and interactivity between floors.
The entrance is remodelled internally to carve out a double-height reception space. Terrazzo is chosen for its durability and style. The seats with clean curved lines and table tops are made with hand-made terrazzo featuring large marble chippings. The same pattern continues into the adjacent walls and stairs, unifying and visually expanding the area. A playful combination of dark and light shade and blocked shapes for the floor and stair steps were achieved by tiles of various sizes, tailored to the design.
The secret behind this level of flexibility in the application of very large format architectural terrazzo lies in the patented vacuum production process. The mixture of marble quarry waste and cement is vibrated under a patented vacuum process, on an industrial scale, without losing the art of terrazzo. The colour of the base binder can match most natural RAL or Pantone colours, and the size of the chips can vary from microns to 80mm chips in diameter for resin and 30mm for cement.
Once cut and polished, the surfaces of the tiles reveal a dynamic combination of natural stone texture against a solid colour base. Bespoke designs can be produced in any amounts, from a single tile piece to thousands of square meters, to suit all budgets and designs.
The In-Opera Group is proud to be associated with Piercy and Co for this project.
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