The Gaslight Building is a beautiful, broad-fronted industrial structure on Rathbone Street. Today, refurbished and sensitively extended, it offers bright, contemporary workspace that still feels rooted in its heritage. Light reaches deeper into the plan, and carefully detailed interventions bring warmth and clarity to the interiors. The reconfiguration has also increased lettable space by around 70%, allowing the building to work harder while retaining its robust Art Deco character.
- Location
- Fitzrovia, London
- Size
- 23,000 sqft
Built in the 1920s for the Gas and Light Company, the building was originally a utilitarian engineering facility set just off Oxford Street. By the 2010s, despite its handsome frontage, the interior felt tired and underwhelming. The brief was to amplify the potential of the existing shell – increasing lettable space and creating generous, high-quality workspace within the original structure, rather than replacing it outright.
Before and After
Our ambition was to create something with distinct character and longevity – avoiding short-lived office fashions while strengthening the building’s relationship with Fitzrovia’s heritage of making. Working closely with Bureau de Change on the interiors, we set out to improve daylight, unlock underused areas and weave a coherent architectural story between inside and out, ensuring the new intervention felt authentic to the original building.
We refurbished, reconfigured and extended the original structure, carefully stitching old and new together. To the rear, our extension arcs back toward the upper roof, its faceted, pre-patinated zinc roof inspired by artists’ studio glazing. The addition doubles the building’s depth, flooding spaces with light and creating distinctive internal volumes, while stepped terraces look down onto a planted, terrazzo-lined garden. Two new rooftop pavilions bookend the façade, introducing high-domed studio spaces with expansive views across Fitzrovia.
The building has been fundamentally rearranged for multiple uses. Three new entrances serve a restaurant, gym and workspaces; windows have been enlarged to rebalance the façade; and brickwork and decorative metalwork have been carefully restored. Inside, Bureau de Change’s crafted interventions define the experience – from the bronze-coloured filigree mesh that wraps the core, to bespoke terrazzo panels, bronze wayfinding, reinstated joinery and precisely organised services that complement the existing structural grid. The result is calm, adaptable workspace that celebrates structure, heritage and making.
