RIBA London Awards
Winner
AJ Architecture Awards
Workplace Winner
AJ Retrofit Awards
Positive Addition Finalist
BCO Awards
Refurbishment Finalist
Dezeen Awards
Workplace Architecture of the Year Shortlist
Dezeen Awards
Workplace Interior of the Year Winner
Mix Awards
Workplace (>70k sqft) Winner
Schueco Awards
Commercial Project Winner
Terracotta tones ground silver highlights throughout Chancery House, a distinctive identity carried from its dramatic front door to the calm interiors. Natural light pours into deepened basements, illuminating a mixture of flexible workspaces for teams, solo focus and breaking out. This building keeps you coming back, with a state-of-the-art fitness studio, rooftop terrace, courtyards and café. It was 75% let within 3 months, and today it’s 22,600 sqft bigger too, adapting to the daily rhythm of its community.
- Location
- Chancery Lane, London
- Size
- 172,000 sqft
- Client
- The Office Group (now Fora)
We wanted to make new sense and beauty out of the building’s history and update its story as a place of work. First known as the Chancery Lane Safe Deposit in 1885, the original building was bombed in WWII, survived only by its silver vaults. Reborn as offices in 1953, with extensions in the 1980s and 2000s; it was acquired by The Office Group (now Fora) in 2019 but felt like a series of dark, disconnected spaces. Then COVID hit.
Before and After
Our brief was to consolidate the exterior by better referencing the original exterior architecture, open up poorly connected spaces and create a versatile set of workspaces prioritising wellbeing. Tough work would be required to lower the basements and create generous terraces and openings to bring light. Inside and outside had to feel joined up, materially and in terms of flow, with spaces feeling flexible and inviting.
Reconfiguring the ground floor structure, we were able to establish new flow between spaces, transforming the experience of moving through Chancery House. Collaborating with Copenhagen-based Norm Architects who led on the interiors, we chose materials that referenced the building’s history while making every future encounter feel special. Out on the street the enlarged entrance echoes the mighty strength of the stainless steel bank vaults below ground. In other moments, red metallic surfaces nod to the surrounding chimney pots spotted at terrace height.
The lobby at Chancery House
“dMFK’s clever design released the underused floors of Chancery House to create otherwise untapped value and a sympathetic extension to connect the two main wings — a beautiful, contemporary structure. This was a highly collaborative project, creating a story for the building that flows through every floor. It has resulted in extraordinary space within an extraordinary building.”
Charlie Green, Co-Founder of The Office Group (now Fora)
Approached with sustainability and wellbeing front of mind, this retrofit achieved WELL Platinum – the highest available – BREEAM Excellent, and notched a 77.5% reduction in embodied carbon compared with a best-practice new build. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a place people look forward to spending the day in. As with every great workplace, productivity comes if you draw people in and uplift them.
Carefully balanced amenity at Chancery House
