London, United Kingdom.
Originally a Victorian warehouse building, 6 St Chad's Place housed a derelict mechanics workshop when neighbouring architects Squire and Partners acquired it in February 2003. Ten months later it was a café, restaurant and bar providing facilities for the public and the practice. The decision was taken to make a minimal intervention and to marshal resources for a few key items. The brick walls were simply sand blasted, and the original timber trussed roof was kept (albeit with an added roof light). Full height doors that overlooked the street have been reinstated and, when open in summer, allow direct interaction with the street. A long counter of cream resin now runs along one wall, the bar’s waist height encouraging an intimacy between staff and clientele.
A complex geometry at the back of the building has been simplified into a full height wall that hides all the services, toilets and storage. Out of this wall emerge a number of functions rather like an advent calendar, including signage, a plasma screen, and a menu board. The wall is covered by a photograph taken from a station platform. As St Chad’s vibrates periodically to the nearby rumble of a train, its relevance becomes clear, for it shows the building from below, sitting on a bridge over the tracks.
Squire and Partners
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