Acting as executive architects, vPPR prepared a coordinated set of drawings for Second Home and Cano Lasso Architects during RIBA Stage 2. The project combines office space, with retail units at ground floor on Gray’s Inn Road, and residential units above. The site is bounded by Gray’s Inn Road and Mount Pleasant, located in the Hatton Garden Conservation Area in the borough of Camden.

It consists of three groups of buildings, with different architectural styles and a variety of heights, that share a strong industrial history: The buildings fronting Gray’s Inn Road, including a home for the substation supervisor and some retail units, were built in 1906 and 1926 respectively; The Tramshed was originally built as an electricity motor generating substation for the London Country Council Tramways in 1906-7; Panther House, accessed from Mount Pleasant, is an Edwardian warehouse and workshop building consisting of three wings, constructed in the late 19th century.

The proposal introduces new links at ground floor level to allow Second Home members to pass directly through the site from Gray’s Inn Road to Mount Pleasant, creating permeability across this deep urban block. Our drawings coordinated layouts, circulation, services, transport, refuse, and structures for pre-planning and costing purposes. We prepared detailed area schedules, updated regularly with design changes.

The complexity of the brief ranged from the combination of the addition of contemporary new buildings in this sensitive historic area; the need to minimise massing in this historical context with many adjacent neighbours whilst maximising useable floor area; working with two clients; and working collaboratively alongside international architects. It was a fantastic experience to work on this incredible project with such visionary clients, architects and other design team members, as well as the insightful planners at Camden Council.