Central House

The refurbishment and extension of the former London Metropolitan School of Art, Architecture and Design provides over 150,000 square feet of office space. Located opposite the Whitechapel Gallery, on
the corner of Whitechapel High Street and Commercial Road, the landmark office and retail scheme has retained and refurbished the existing six-storey building with minor partial demolitions and removal of its distinctive external stairwells. The scheme now provides a large reception area with a café open to the public and a retail unit facing Commercial Road at ground floor level. Tension between old and new is highlighted by an inhabited gap, marked out by an eye catching piece of public art visible from the street to create a visual break. This space forms one of several external spaces, including a large planted terrace at roof level and shared multi-use amenity space for the building users.

Central House was a concrete framed warehouse style building completed in 1965. The building was used as an arts education building, initially by the London Metropolitan School of Art, Architecture and
Design, before it was sold to Frasers Property in 2016.

Scope of Works

Stortford Interiors’ (UK) in-house joinery division, Parkrose was appointed by BAM Construction to design, deliver and install a full turn-key fit-out solution to the washrooms and back of house areas of the building. The comprehensive superloo package scope included drywall partitions & MDF ceilings, raised GIFA access floors, SFS IPS Modules, HPL faced IPS duct wall & cubicles, mirror-fronted access cabinets, , MEP & sanitaryware, fixtures, fittings and decoration. The scope also extended to drywall partitions and timber & metal doorsets throughout the building and bespoke joinery, shower cubicles, lockers, mirrors and changing benching to the back of house changing areas.

The scheme presented an opportunity for Parkrose to deliver its first major project for BAM in London, and the variety of intimate material interfaces and the highest of quality expectations provided Parkrose
an opportunity to again demonstrate our class-leading credentials. The holistic package scope allowed us to demonstrate our experience in close interface management, providing a totally integrated delivery solution and minimising programme and sequence complications.