Victorian Printworks Turned Workspace and Members Club 12th August 2020 | IN OFFICE DESIGN | BY SBID

Project of the Week

This week’s instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features an office design and members club. 2019 SBID Awards Finalists Squire & Partners designed this first social workspace and private members’ club by Ministry of Sound as the antithesis to a nightclub environment. Housed in a former Victorian printworks in London, light-filled flexible workspaces for 850 people are as suited to morning coffee and lunch meetings as evening networking and social events. A concept of ‘premium raw’ was established, with stripped back raw elements of the existing building contrasted with a layer of premium finish including refined furniture, artwork and lighting. The bold aesthetic delivers a distinctive and desirable offer for different sized organisations and pushes the boundaries of current workplace culture. Combining the creative and social aspects of a members’ club with dynamic workspace for those in music, film, arts, fashion and technology sectors, the aim was not just to offer a place to do business, but to provide an environment for a convivial and creative way of life.

SBID Awards: Office Design sponsored by KI Europe

Company: Squire and Partners

Project: The Ministry

Location: London, United Kingdom

, Victorian Printworks Turned Workspace and Members Club

Image credits: James Jones

What was the client’s brief? 

Ministry of Sound’s brief pushed the boundaries of current workplace culture, referencing film, art, fashion and music, and sought to create a bold aesthetic that would allow them to deliver a distinctive and desirable offer for The Ministry’s members. The space needed to adapt for an evolving series of uses over the course of a day – from working breakfasts through to social evenings – and be capable of increasing its tempo in all senses as the week progresses. Ministry of Sound required an original response that would distill the raw ingredients of its brand and extract the DNA from the historic industrial building to develop a vision that would be completely authentic to both and create something unique.

, Victorian Printworks Turned Workspace and Members Club

Image credits: James Jones

What inspired the interior design of the project? 

Combining the creative, social and networking aspects of a members’ club with dynamic workspace for up to 850 people, the aim was not just to offer a place to do business but provide an environment for a convivial and creative way of life. The design concept stays true to the origins of the mother brand by retaining the bold, raw elements of the former print works and contrasting this with a layer of refined furniture, lighting and artworks to establish a ‘premium raw’ aesthetic – a stripped-back simplicity with a high-quality finish. This established a highly creative and energetic environment that transforms throughout the day and has the ability to shift tempo through the week and evolve between seasons. This concept underpinned every creative decision, from the furniture and fabrics to the branding, uniforms, fragrance and art.

, Victorian Printworks Turned Workspace and Members Club

Image credits: James Jones

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

Our challenge was to create an aesthetic style for the new brand that was different from the clichés of shared workspaces and members’ clubs and create a link back to the Ministry of Sound’s mother brand in a more fundamental way than displaying logos everywhere. The first thing we did was go back through the brand’s creative archive and select key characteristics that ran through its best work – we then used these as the building blocks for The Ministry, and in doing so we effectively remixed Ministry of Sound for a new industry.

, Victorian Printworks Turned Workspace and Members Club

Image credits: James Jones

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

Highlights include the unexpected tequila bar outside the washrooms and the bespoke Polish ‘pajaki’ chandelier hanging above it, handmade by Karolina Merska using the same intensely coloured polymer cord as the suspended daybeds by Patricia Urquiola from Moroso that the hanging sculptures are paired with. What also stands out is the appreciation of light, smell and sound, where we carried the design aesthetic through to all of the senses using a carefully crafted layer of visual stimulus, house scents and curated soundscapes by sound architect Tom Middleton. These moments, along with guest services create a holistic experience for members and visitors.

, Victorian Printworks Turned Workspace and Members Club

Image credits: James Jones

Why did you enter the SBID Awards?

The awards celebrate international design excellence and so the chance for new work to be showcased internationally and recognised by our peers is rewarding for the whole team.

Questions answered by Maria Cheung, Director of Interior Design at Squire & Partners

We hope you feel inspired by this week’s design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire

If you missed last week’s Project of the Week, featuring a Bejing Hotel, click here to see more.