Harella House

While there is a time and a place for visually minimalist glazing, our steel-framed panes of glass suited the objective laid out by architects Piercy & Company and BW: Workplace Experts perfectly.

There is a common, understandable, misconception that heritage properties cannot also be energy efficient. After all, building materials degrade over time and technology has come a long way since Harella House was first built. Our challenge was proving that a lovely old structure such as this could meet the modern expectation of optimised energy efficiency. With the vision of our architectural partners and the stylish innovation of Cantifix products, it was a breeze.

Between the 1930s and 1970s, what is now known as Harella House was a busy warehouse and textile factory. Following this period, it fell into disrepair and became just another industrial space in London that remained empty, awaiting a 21st-century renovation. At the centre of the vision for this renovation was energy efficiency, meeting the challenge of sustainability whilst also maintaining the striking exterior and original features within. The house would become a bright, modern workplace, the layout of which could be adapted depending on its intended purpose, and things like temperature, sunlight and clarity could all be controlled and maintained for those living and working within.

To achieve a ‘Brooklyn Loft’-style renovation (whereby industrialism meets modern minimalism), the project features SECCO’s OS2-75 framed steel window, with an ingenious solution to achieve extremely low U values by using dummy transoms and spacer bars. The SECCO commercial and high-security range EBE was used for the front entrance, which Cantifix automated by using the TORMAX pivot drives. The lower ground windows incorporated an interesting modification of the SECCO EBE by applying T shape and L steel profiles, achieving the ‘industrial chic’ appearance.

We think the results of this project are phenomenal, but we are more than a little bit biased. Instead of taking our word for it, perhaps you’d like to know that it was long-listed for the 2022 Dezeen Award for small workspace interiors and was selected as a Merit winner in ARCHITECT’s 2023 Architecture & Interiors Awards.