BW transforms former factory in London’s Clerkenwell into Cat A offices

BW: Workplace Experts has sensitively refurbished Harella House on Goswell Road in Clerkenwell. In total, six floors of lettable Cat A office space have been created for Chait Investment Corporation, within a characterful building, which now has three new terraced areas.

Harella House was famous in the 1930s for producing women’s clothing. The 55,000 sq ft building has large Crittall windows, which were intended to create natural light filled spaces that could accommodate large items of machinery. BW managed the erection of scaffolding to the full perimeter of the building and a full temporary roof, enabling the original facade to be cleaned and all existing windows to be replaced with new Crittall. An electrical substation to the rear was decommissioned and relocated into the basement and ground floor, with the access point on Gee Street.

A new reception entrance has been created on Goswell Road, providing the main access to the building. Original features have been restored, with exposed steel columns and brick piers on the upper floors and sanded timber sarking boards on level 4. Also, on this level, the roof has been completely replaced and altered to create a mezzanine floor, with new roof slates throughout.

To the rear, adjacent to the neighbouring offices, a single-storey extension has been demolished and completely rebuilt to enable a larger ground floor area. A rooftop garden, a highly desirable element for contemporary workplaces, has also been created.

Anthony Brown, Sales & Marketing Director of BW: Workplace Experts said: “I’m delighted that the BW team were able to bring this period building back to life, refurbishing the existing structure, adding contemporary features and managing the building works in a timely manner.”

Daniel Salako, Associate Director at CBRE said: “Following the recent refurbishment works, Harella House is now one of the best (if not the best) commercial office spaces on offer in Clerkenwell.”

A 94-week programme of rebuilding and structural alternations, Harella House has been completely reinvented as a twenty-first century workplace.

The project team included: architect, Piercy & Company; quantity surveyor, Exegete; project manager, CBRE; M&E consultant, Elementa Consulting; and structural engineer, Davies Maguire.