54 clarendon road

Canada Life approached WGI seeking to expand a 1990s 4 storey office building in the commercial heart of Watford. The brief was to increase both the overall floor area and the footprint per level, as well as refurbish the existing building to achieve class leading standards and meet likely future market requirements. With a somewhat dated appearance, the building has basement and undercroft parking and is surrounded by a relatively large surface car park.

The design proposal has been developed to add the new office space and amenities in a manner that is not only sensitive and considerate to the local commercial and residential context, but also seeks to create an exceptional office environment for the occupants. Our approach was to provide a contemporary design that harmoniously unifies existing elements of the building with new additions and in particular in the use of brickwork and glazing, visual permeabilty between the front and rear and extensive planting which not only breaks up the massing but makes a significant contribution to the external amenity space.

In transforming the existing building, not only have the elevational treatments been significantly modified to give the building a contemporary appearance, but the internal plans have been reconfigured around the service core to provide a best in class office facility. A much improved street presence has been achieved by opening up the ground floor to create a foyer with strong visual links and reinforced by two storey, projecting glazed entrance with faceted glazing panels. The corner tower has been given a greater focal emphasis in the use of windows, Profilit glass planks and planar glazing with fins to create a form that adds diversity and visual movement.
The building incorporates sustainable design principles and best practice, designed to achieve BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Platinum, EPC A rating and Wired standards.

Location: Watford, Hertfordshire

Client: Canada Life Investments

Value: £10.5m

Service: Architecture, Interiors: Full Design