Holistic Office

June 5, 2018 Benjamin Allen

Client: Cundall Birmingham / photographs by Quentin Lake /
Structural Engineer + MEP: Cundall / Contractor: Paragon / Staircase: Meer End Joinery / Joinery: Top Notch Joinery / Bespoke desks: Creative base

Holistic Office

LISTED AS ONE OF LAST YEAR’S TOP 10 STAIRCASE DESIGNS

Our Holistic Office project for Engineering firm Cundall’s Birmingham office was completed late last year and has recently been featured in Dezeen. The helical stair is a central signifier that connects the newly occupied floor to the existing, intended as a visually engaging centre piece of the workplace that also promotes physical activity by its use. The project seeks to be the first WELL Standard Platinum accredited project in the UK.

New Victorian

June 4, 2018 Benjamin Allen

1st place in competition organised by Hackney Council / designed in collaboration with Ricardo Gomes of KWY

New Victorian

Another project from the archive, New Victorian was a parametric design for a set of railings for a new housing development commissioned by Hackney Council in London and designed in collaboration with Ricardo Gomes of KWY. Inspired by London’s ornate Victorian railings as well the neighbourhood’s prominence as a centre of the silk weaving industry in the 17th and 18th centuries and is inspired by the neighbourhood’s new status as a vibrant technology hub - the work is a mediation between these two identities.

Screen House

May 19, 2017 Benjamin Allen

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House / Residential / completed 2015 / Structural engineer: Osborne Edwards / Pattern concept collaborator: Ricardo Gomes, KWY / Photography is by Henrietta Williams

Screen House

Our project Screen House that was featured in Dezeen last year is due to be featured in the upcoming book HomeWork which is due to be published this autumn by Thames & Hudson.

Using a traditional cellular layout of a mid 19th century regency villa in North London as a base the movable screens allow different degrees of separation whilst maintaining visual connections afforded by the perforated screens. The screen perforations were parametrically designed using a pattern which allowed more open area where privacy was less critical and less where privacy was more important.

10m Bridge

March 4, 2017 Benjamin Allen

Proposal / 2013/2014 / Designed in collaboration with Ricardo Gomes of KWY / Engineering assistance: Art-Engineering / Photos by Frida Gregersen

10m Bridge

This research project, undertaken with Ricardo Gomes of KWY, considered how to create a 10 metre long bridge from 10mm thick laser or CNC cut sheet material. The pattern is based on a wrought iron lattice traditionally used in fences and gates in English garden design as well as for larger structures. The pattern modification has been the result of a detailed investigation involving both “finite element” structural studies and parametric modelling to vary the pattern shape and size. This formulation allows for the removal of the most material where the stresses are lowest and the least where they are highest. A plywood prototype of the bridge was built for KWY’s exhibition Techne at the Den Frie museum in Copenhagen in 2014.