General Projects and KKR bring the future of work to Heal’s department store

Photography: Chris Warton

Carefully preserving and nodding to its industrial heritage, real estate developer General Projects and investment firm KKR joined forces to reinvigorate a Grade II* listed building on London’s Tottenham Court Road. The site consists of eight interlinked buildings, first developed by Heal and Son for the company’s first purpose-built furniture warehouse in the 19^th century and later finding life as the famed department store. With an updated retail space still occupying the ground floor and spacious, design-led office space now above, Heal’s retains the mantle of ‘destination’, but now also caters to what General Projects describe as ‘the businesses of tomorrow’.

Collaborating with architects Buckley Gray Yeoman, White Red and furniture designer Galvin Brothers, General Projects strove to preserve the building’s industrial feel, keeping the original façade and restoring well-known details such as Heal’s ‘sign of the four poster’ emblems. Across the workspaces that occupy the upper floors, modern fixtures and fittings from the former department store have been stripped back to reveal elements including soffit coffers and downstand beams, restoring a sense of character while also maximising ceiling heights.

The original, industrial screen doors and circulation areas have also been painted in a bold, deep red, enlivening an otherwise light, neutral palette and acting as a unifying thread throughout the design scheme. Once a key part of the former warehouse, the existing loading bays have been reimagined as a new onsite café and reception space, creating a welcoming entrance to the workspaces above and featuring bespoke sculptural pieces by Galvin Brothers.

In an effort to stitch together the eight buildings on the Heal’s site more seamlessly, the surrounding Alfred Mews has been newly landscaped and semi-pedestrianised in order to provide users with a vibrant shared space, while a historic internal ‘street’ that runs from Alfred Mews to Torrington Place was also reinstated. This walkway serves as a linear lobby of flexible break-out and meeting spaces, joining a restored internal courtyard that offers another relaxed community area for occupiers.

“The Heal’s building presented a unique opportunity not just to reimagine an iconic piece of London’s heritage, but also to develop a blueprint for the reinvigoration of our high streets and city centres, where department stores have been closing down in their droves,” explains General Projects’ CEO, Jacob Loftus. “Our aim from the outset was to secure a long-term future for Heal’s in its historic home, making it the focal point for a new kind of workspace campus for businesses seeking innovative space in one of London’s best locations.”