Anomaly: Creating a Punk Rock Inspired Workspace Design

This week’s instalment of the Project of the Week series features a punk rock inspired workspace design by 2023 SBID Awards Finalist, Anomaly.

Tribeca, an exciting one million sq ft Life Science campus situated on the Regent’s Canal, are having their new workspaces and common parts designed and delivered by Anomaly. The development consists of four buildings, each with their own distinct identity. The design concept drew inspiration from the surrounding Camden area, incorporating elements of punk rock to create clashes of texture and colour, and was heavily influenced by sustainably conscious design, recycling materials extracted from site.

What was the client's brief? 

Reef Group approached Anomaly with the exciting task of developing the reception and core areas for the 1,000,000 sqft Life Science Campus named Tribeca. Located on Regents Canal and just a short walk from the Kings Cross Granary square, Tribeca is a new destination at the intersection of life and science, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.

The development consists of four buildings: Apex, Reflector, Connector, and Assembly; the brief required each one to have their own distinct identity. It was also crucial that the project prioritised sustainable design, catering the client’s sustainability driven goals.

What inspired the design of the project?

There are three pillars within our inspiration, the first being the local context of Camden and its rich musical heritage. We were inspired by the bright acid colour pops from the Camden punk scene, metallic mixes mimicking the jewellery and hardware that featured in the clothing and accessory style of the time in rock/punk music.

Our second source of inspiration was the proximity to the Regents Canal and its deep-rooted history in the industrial trade. Raw textures were introduced, reflecting the old beer factory site in which our new Tribeca campus is located, shown in the exposed concrete, bricks and steelwork. Lastly, ESG is a huge focus of the Tribeca strategy. This informed our material choices to be as sustainable as possible, introducing large amounts of biophilia within Assembly, using unconventional but highly recycle content material, and ensuring to work with local suppliers to reduce the carbon footprint.

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

Tribeca is not on site yet so luckily there haven’t been any truly tough hurdles as of yet! Although the scale and complexity of the scheme would ordinarily cause headaches in co-ordinating the design, working alongside the lead architects of BDP and Perkins & Will, as well as the wider consultant teams, has made this a delightful privilege.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

The use of recycled materials (some of which are to be extracted from the site itself), such as recycled clay bricks, Lavastone, FSC compliant timber, recycled copper sheets, and recycled plastic, showcased the project's commitment to sustainability and defining highlight. Working with local suppliers/ trades people to create waste recycled from the site into items such as reception desks is something we’re really looking forward to putting into action and has been made possible by the support and conviction of the client.

Why did you enter the SBID Awards?

We entered the SBID Awards because they acknowledge excellence in design from an esteemed panel of experts who are prominent within the industry, and an excuse to get the team out for a knees-up. To be recognised for our approach and design by our peers is testament to the work of the team, and no one individual. It’s a golden to be recognised as a finalist for the first time.

What has being an Award Finalist meant to you and your business?

As a practice, it will never be a hardship to be acknowledged for the work you do, for the work the team does. But to be a finalist in a grouping of such high calibre and is recognition beyond and we’re proud to stand behind the work we have done and celebrate it.

Questions answered by Nina Greenwood, Lead Designer at Anomaly.

This week’s instalment of the Project of the Week series features a sustainable and neutral office design by 2023 SBID Awards Finalist, Anomaly.

Global family business, Metdist, required their new UK base to become their home-from-home, and it was up to Anomaly to make this their reality, creating a stylish space that brought together the multiple functions of the business all in one open plan space. The 5,806 sq ft space includes an art studio, private offices, and a breakout space, all within a neutral palette.

What was the client's brief? 

The client, Metdist - a global family run business - was driven to create a space fit for their London office HQ in the established Regent’s Park surroundings. The design directive was underpinned by Metrist’s belief that they, their staff, and their clients should connect emotionally with the spaces they work in. The existing building was a unique modernist warehouse and to be retrofitted from its industrial past into a sustainably lead office, layered with colour, materiality, and a wonderfully ferocious eye for detail from the client.

What inspired the design of the project?

The client held the belief of fine craftsmanship to bond the old and contemporary architecture, a focus of bespoke joinery and working with the existing industrial structure was a key source of inspiration. The brief required an intertwining of functional spaces that were fit for use, but also adaptive to their growing team. The joy of working closely with a family-owned business was the exploration of each family member and what this space meant to them, and their full engagement across the process to push us as a practice. We developed and designed spaces that reflected their individual personalities but also their family as an identity which has been going for three generations.

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

Balancing the rigid geometry of the sawtooth structure against the client’s appetite to deliver more open and softer spaces. Curved walls don’t go into pitched roofs without a headache or two. In addition, the proximity of the site to the London Underground was a curious hurdle that logic would ordinarily dictate as unnecessary. The removal of a single, non-load bearing column took 9 months to be approved which was a thrilling experience.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

The client's enthusiasm for bold and daring ideas was definitely the highlight, it made the collaboration extra exciting and appealing, and reaffirms that a great scheme isn’t born from indifference, but through being challenged, through debate, testing the ludicrous and playing with the salacious to get create something worthwhile, not meanwhile. Working with a non-profit charitable institution added another a-typical dimension to the scheme, providing philanthropic assistance through the promotion and assistance of arts, history, culture, education, and relief work – so what’s not to love!

Why did you enter the SBID Awards?

We entered the SBID Awards because they acknowledge excellence in design, and we think this scheme is excellent... at least that is what Metdist told us. Anomaly is not a practice of the individual, but collection of others producing work of note. To have this seen, to have this recognised is validation of what the team strive for and own on each project.

What has being an Award Finalist meant to you and your business?

Getting to tell the team that designed this that it isn’t just us that think you’re a class act, but your peers do to. That what we’re doing has reach beyond the studio, and beyond the relationships we have with our clients.

Questions answered by Nina Greenwood, Lead Designer at Anomaly.