Floor show

construction and real estate consultancy EC Harris’s new HQ in York Way, King’s Cross, provides a comfortable, bespoke workplace for its staff. But it’s also a showcase for the office specialist’s clients. Open plan circulation, discrete security and a range of work and leisure spaces define the new environment.

Here, the floor finishes and systems not only mark the nature of the space – rubber flooring for break out spaces, certified American oak for the cafe and an underfloor air delivery system for the offices, for example – they express the sustainable qualities of the new HQ.

Designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects and carried out by Overbury, the 67,000 sq ft fit-out of the refurbished Victorian building took just six months to deliver from the initial idea to practical completion in December last year.

SHCA has extended the lobby in depth to create an open plan space where lifts, a staircase, a cafe and meeting rooms converge, allowing visitors and staff to mingle comfortably. Security is low key so the space is barrier and clutter free. ‘Half of the ground floor is given over to free access without passing through turnstiles or gates,’ confirms Jason Turner, design director of the architect’s interiors division.

Limestone flagstones characterised the ground floor lobby when the building was taken over by EC Harris and the architect decided they should remain in place. For the extended area Overbury sourced Dura limestone from France which provided a close match to the original.

Commenting on the cafe which flows directly off the lobby, SHCA’s technical director Keith Mason explains: ‘We’ve disguised the Kingspan raised floor system by applying a timber finish to it. We wanted to make it feel like it was a proper cafe so we selected a timber finish.’ SHCA specified a Nesite composite woodchip core with an American oak timber veneer finish from Advanced Ergonomic Technologies and had Overbury lay the 600mm square ‘tiles’ to resemble a woodblock floor.

The office floors upstairs are dominated by carpet tiles from Interface. The 500mm x 500mm Straightforward product was selected. The tile features a random design and is cut so that it can be installed non-directionally, reducing installation times and wastage. It is made from 80% recycled yarn and manufactured using 100% green electricity. ‘Part of our selection process was based on Interface’s commitment to neutralising the environmental impact of its product range by 2020,’ says Mason.

The tiles, as in the cafe, sit on a Kingspan raised floor which incorporates an air delivery system. Turner says it reduces floor to ceiling heights and improves circulation but as such requires the installation of vents for fan coils at specific areas on the floor plate. ‘It meant running the carpet under the vents – so it’s not flush – but the alternative was to butt the tiles up against the vents. We decided this would have created a greater trip hazard,’ says Turner. ‘Furthermore, maintenance is safer, but not any easier. You don’t have to work at height but you do have to move furniture.’

The many break-out spaces through the HQ feature Norament 925 Grano rubber floor coverings by Freudenberg Building Systems. Again this comes in 600mm square tiles and provides a hard-wearing and spill-friendly surface.

Elsewhere, a plusher carpet tile from Lees Mohawk Carpets has been used for the boardroom and meeting rooms on the ground floor.

The works were completed on time and to budget, weighing in at around £60/sq ft and have been well received. Remarking on the Straightforward flooring, Turner says: ‘It’s gone down well with staff with EC Harris chairman Richard Clare especially impressed. He said he’d like a suit made out of it!’ cm