On one of the most sensitive architectural sites in Britain, opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral, a smoked glass edifice reflects the city’s visual clutter. The ‘ultra-modern’ angled façades resist legibility. At lunchtime, office workers escape their corporate confines to pace the arcades, seeking sustenance, bamboozled by the chaos. To counteract this spatial incoherence, our architects instated easily readable, geometric surfaces that recall 1960s office interiors. The simple framework of our One New Change store design, articulated in re-used plywood and steel, provides sensory sanctuary to overstimulated pedestrians.
The project was born of necessity: tables from our former Long Yard head office were at risk of becoming landfill. In the spirit of a circular economy, these remnants provided the foundation for our One New Change store interior. Transforming the pieces was no easy task, however. To optimise the reuse of the materials, many iterations and prototypes were created. Each element was deconstructed, cut to size, and reconfigured into shelves, a ceiling grid, a central counter. The basin was relocated from our previous counter at Selfridges, providing access to running water.
