Dual Purpose Office/Home Restoration & Refurbishment

Our client, an incredibly forward thinking businessman, wanted to find and unveil the character of the existing building and futureproof the refurbishment to allow for the building to remain as Office Space for the next few years but with the infrastructure in place to ultimately change the use of the building back to a house.

“Whiting Street is the most beautiful building, we worked hard to restore its splendour while making it a beautiful place to live or work”

Lisa Lewis, Source One Consulting

Giving a beautiful building a new lease of life

The building had been converted to office use in the past, but this had been achieved by adding modern partition walls that masked all of the building character, turning it into a series of ‘soulless’ boxes.

The large refurbishment project featured considerable building work, power & comms, as well as a full fit out over the four floors. Take a closer look at the work below.

Turning the basement into a beautiful space

The current office had a basement space that was not habitable or usable due to damp and lack of structural support. The ambition for the space was to knock through the basement to create a habitable bar to be solely used for AWM staff and to increase the ‘living’ space from 3 floors to 4 floors.

The work carried out to transform this space included:

• Tank the basement – floor and walls – whilst retaining as many of the existing features as possible.
• Installation of new Glass & Steel stairwell into the basement
• Installation of new steel supports – working alongside structural engineers and building control.
• Installation of new Radiator, Karndean Flooring and feature Lighting
• New Fire Alarm System
• Wallpaper all walls, Full Decoration works
• Installation of new bespoke hand crafted bar and new Soft Furnishings

“Lisa and her team’s knowledge were massively valuable to seeing every part of the project through to the end with the high standards and vision we had.“

James Stott, Director, Abbeygate Wealth Management

Creating a workspace that showcases the building

On the Ground Floor the challenge was to create a high quality office space while showcasing the building features. In addition, to create the space in such a way that it could be practically turned back into a home in the future.

The work we undertook included:

• Removal of all existing internal partition walls
• Installation of new herringbone Karndean Flooring
• Exposure of existing beams and associated fire treatment works
• Installation of new kitchen with bespoke cupboards and an Aga
• Installation of new Karndean flooring throughout
• Exposure of existing lathe and plaster walls – these were treated and cleaned and then encased in fire glass as features
• Installation of new glass stairwell
• Decoration of all internal doors
• Installation of new wood panelling in meeting rooms
• Installation of all new lights and switches
• Installation of new Office furniture

First floor meeting rooms / house ensuite

On the First Floor the meeting rooms we developed meeting rooms in keeping with the period of the property. However, alongside this we also introduced the plumbing required for these rooms to be turned into ensuites when the property is converted into a house in the future.

The works included:

• Installation of new boiler and all new radiators throughout building – style within keeping of period property
• First Fix Plumbing works for current meeting rooms to be changed to ensuite when converted back to a house.
• Levelling of internal floor and installation of new carpet tiles
• Fire Seal all exposed beams and full fire paint
• Repointing of existing feature fire place
• Installation of new Office Furniture

Second Floor Works

Similar to the first floor, the second floor work was to create a high quality office space but with all the facilities to convert it to a house format in the future. The work included:

• First Fix Plumbing works for current meeting rooms to be changed to ensuite when converted back to a house
• Exposure of existing beams
• Installation of new Karndean flooring
• Installation of new Office Furniture

“Lisa was always available and has a relentless work ethic and responded immediately to any issues. Absolute Pleasure to work with them!“

James Stott, Director, Abbeygate Wealth Management

Creating a first impression

To create a memorable first impression for Abbeygate Wealth Management clients, the exterior of the building also had a makeover. The work included:

• Installation of new Front door – in keeping with period building
• Full External Paint works
• Paving slabs fitted in external courtyard with full aco drainage

What they said about working with us…

James Stott, Director at Abbeygate Wealth Management, discussed what it was like working with Source One:

“We all really enjoyed working with Lisa and her team at Source One on our Whiting Street offices. The time and understanding needed in any project of this type is vast and almost impossible to dedicate from a client’s perspective without sacrificing your ability to do your day to day profession.

Lisa and her team’s knowledge were massively valuable to seeing every part of the project through to the end with the high standards and vision we had. Lisa was always available and has a relentless work ethic and responded immediately to any issues.

Absolute Pleasure to work with them!“