Case study — Clerkenwell, London EC1
20 Garrett Street
The brief
Reimagining a 1920s building as Grade A offices, while preserving the character that made it unique.
The refurbishment of a former warehouse into 18,128 ft² of considered Grade A office accommodation with a 1,486 ft² roof terrace, retaining and exposing the industrial features that give the building its value.
Scope of works
What we delivered
- Grade A office fit-out across the full building, with a new reception area.
- Exposed structural steel and restoration of the original Crittall windows.
- 15 new WC and shower facilities, including 3 DDA-compliant bathrooms.
- Roof terrace and bike storage — bespoke joinery from our own workshop.
- Energy-efficient lighting and features optimised to minimise embodied carbon and construction waste.
The challenges
The ventilation design that would have failed
The tender pack specified a central ventilation unit serving 12 WCs, 2 showers and 3 accessible bathrooms. Our in-house M&E engineer questioned whether the specified fan could cope — and recalculated the design. The numbers showed it running at 95% of capacity, constantly: a unit destined for early failure.
We put the findings to the client’s M&E consultant, who confirmed the undersizing was a cost-saving measure. With the client informed, our designer re-engineered the system around a correctly sized unit running at the manufacturer-recommended 80%. The same review caught missing automatic fire dampers — a building-control requirement absent from the tender design.
As principal contractor, we check every design against standards and budget before it is built — because problems found on paper cost a fraction of problems found on site.
The outcome
Industrial history, working hard again
20 Garrett Street’s refurbishment preserved the industrial character that makes this corner of Clerkenwell distinctive — a building whose history reaches back to the 1920s. Exposed steelwork and restored Crittall glazing carry that story; the bespoke reception and terrace joinery from our own workshop bring it up to date.
Practical completion was issued in December 2022, delivering a state-of-the-art facility that stands out in a competitive office market.
Site manager: Karol Gburczyk · Project director: Piotr Tarasek · Health & Safety: Izabela Tarasek · Up to 20 operatives on site.
On record
Project gallery
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