At the point where Riding House Street opens to Wells Street sits HGG London’s new development project – The Interlock – a five-storey mixed-use building for London.
Designed by Bureau de Change architects, the project manifests our deep commitment to innovation in architecture and exemplifies our passion for creating projects of character that is both distinctive, and noteworthy to the city.
The Interlock is a unique building for London.
It takes the familiar proportions of Fitzrovia’s many 19th Century terraces and recasts the brick façade to create a building of uncertain heritage – one that is simultaneously historic and contemporary.
The project abandons the traditional dimensions of London brick. Instead, in a collaboration between the architect and brick specialist fabricator Forterra, a collection of 44 misshapen and seemingly un-stackable clay blocks were developed for the project. The resulting patterns across the façade’s surface are informed, in part, by the interactions between materials and structure as the bricks appear to lap up against glazing, swell and bow between floors and are inset frame-like to denote the building’s perimeter.
Behind the façade, sit three new residential units and a café at street level with a gallery beneath. Within this complex site, we worked closely with the architect to maximise space and light for our building’s inhabitants. Deep light wells and skylights track daylight into the centre and edges of the building, creating internal patios on the lowest floors and light wells on others. Internally, the spaces are finished in a simple elemental palette – terrazzo bathrooms, natural stone worktops, sprayed-timber kitchens and oak floors.
At the base of the building, we are introducing a new café to Riding House Street. The café embeds The Interlock firmly into the streetscape by enlivening the ground floor and bringing residents and passers-by in to interact with and enjoy the building, while in the basement a purpose-built gallery space hosts a wealth of exhibitions, talks and workshops.
Team
Architect – Bureau de Change Architects
Structural Engineer – Engineers HRW
M&E Engineer – Mendick Waring
Contractor – Phillip Banks Design&Build
Facade Contractor – Irvine Whitlock
Brick Fabricator – Forterra
Photographer – Gilbert McCarragher
Awards & Achievements
Architizer Awards 2019, Details – Plus-Architecture + Brick) – Winner
Brick Awards 2019, Small Housing Development – Winner
Sunday Times British Home Awards 2019, Small Development of the Year – Winner
WhatHouse? Awards 2019, Best Exterior Design – Bronze award
British Construction Industry Awards 2019, Housing Project of the Year – Shortlist
New London Architecture Awards 2019, Homes – Shortlist
Press
Arc Daily
Architecture Today
Dezeen
Architect’s Journal
Designboom
Dezeen 2023
Yellowtrace
