Spacelab designs Covent Garden workplace for BSQ

Photography: Matt Clayton

Previously located in the bustling Covent Garden, intelligent service provider BSQ has grasped the opportunity to lease a unit on a quieter street. In its new workplace, the company asked for a contemporary and flexible space that fostered organic opportunities for collaboration, as well as an elevated entrance experience for employees and their creative partners.

Aiming to capture the entrepreneurial spirit of the startups that BSQ represents, Spacelab responded to the design brief in a way that fulfilled the company’s requisites whilst preserving the architectural charm of the mid-century structure. New tenants now benefit from a versatile, 6,500 sq ft environment that provides for a multitude of functions and working practices, as well as alternative work settings to accommodate future business growth.

Retaining its industrial aesthetic, the reception area serves as a client-facing lounge area, equipped with meeting rooms, kitchen facilities and an array of modern conveniences. This industrial style is embraced across the upper floor workspaces, where painted crimson I-beams and corrugated surfaces are common threads throughout. As it was crucial for BSQ to have a workspace that supported both connection and various work styles, bright conference rooms with media walls are available for remote meetings and presentations, with the semi-private focus areas, decked in light timbers, being reserved for team members providing secretarial services for clients.

Responding to previous feedback about a lack of social areas and activities beyond desk-based work, the upper levels also offer new informal zones, including a pool room, a lounge with an integrated projector and sound system for movie watching, a bar with draught taps, a state-of-the-art studio space for content creation and a reading room.

To complete the upgrade, the previously outdated ground floor façade benefits from a glazed, store-like frontage, allowing passersby to view the front desk and comfortable lounge within. A neutral backdrop for the various businesses now housed within the building, Spacelab has used the existing glass blocks and internal brick walls as backdrops to soft seating and rewired art deco light fixtures.

Spacelab retained as much of the existing fabric as possible, exposing brickwork and recycling concrete blocks to define new zones. Pipework and ducting have been left uncovered to minimise the use of plasterboard, which not only celebrates the urban loft style of the building but aligns with the studio’s commitment to a circular economy.