The reimagination of a standard CAT A office in King’s Cross into a vibrant, theatrical workspace that breaks away from corporate convention. Designed to inspire creativity and collaboration, the space features immersive zones, a sunken presentation area, and a fully equipped broadcast studio.
Studio Lime were commissioned to completely reimagine a CAT A office in the heart of London’s King’s Cross. The client sought a space that broke away from conventional corporate design, inviting elements of fun, playfulness, and theatricality, to create an environment that felt refreshingly different and bespoke to them.
From the outset, the brief demanded thorough interrogation to flesh out the detail and home in on the client’s aspirations. The challenge was to craft a design language that balanced creativity with functionality, supporting and inspiring those who use the space. The scheme includes a mix of collaboration spaces, a central presentation area, phone booths, a podcast and green screen studio, and secure data lab.
The layout responds to the building’s existing features, zoning the plan into light and dark, open and enclosed areas to suit varied working styles. A dramatic entrance tunnel to the main collaboration space plays with scale and anticipation, narrowing before opening into the central collaboration space. This central space features bespoke furniture on castors, that allows for flexible configurations, supporting everything from impromptu meetings to small presentations.
At the heart of the collaboration zone is the agora, a sunken presentation space formed by removing the raised access floor and surrounding it with stepped seating. The ceiling above is stripped back to enhance volume and drama, creating a dynamic setting for gatherings and presentations.
Surrounding the central space are a series of immersive collaboration spaces: garden rooms framed by lush planting, cave-like nooks for focused work, private phone booths, and a fully equipped broadcast studio with green screen. Functional support spaces include cloakrooms, coffee points, lockers, furniture storage, and a secure server room.
The design aesthetic is bold and expressive. Colour is used to define zones, such as the pink rubber flooring in the sunken floor of the agora, contrasted with black furniture to heighten visual impact and the yellow inner, contrasting with the back outer of the cave-like nooks. A combination of natural and stained timber is used for textural interest and acoustic absorption. Real planting brings interest and life to the garden rooms, each with its own distinct character and layout.
