Area Sq, the leading office design and fit-out company, has delivered a striking blend of old and new at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ new state-of-the-art headquarters at 21 Prescot Street in Tower Hill.
The project, delivered in partnership with furniture specialist and sister company Sketch Studios, has seen College members enjoying their new home, designed to be a real destination with significantly improved facilities.
Relocating from a Grade II* Listed building at Belgrave Square and offices on Mansell Street was a significant step for the College, whose new home displays artwork which celebrates their heritage whilst embodying a contemporary design and furnishing style.
As membership of the College has grown, so has the need for more flexible space and enhanced facilities for members, staff and visitors. Area Sq’s design has provided the College with significantly improved modern facilities, services and spaces to host in-house events, which were not possible in their previous buildings. A new dedicated events space with meeting rooms, training rooms, a media briefing room and 250-seat conference centre allows the College to welcome members and visitors for meetings and conferences, rather than being hosted off-site as had previously been the case.
It has been a very significant cultural change for everyone, and so to ensure a smooth transition from a very traditional setting to a 1980s building in east London, members and staff were fully involved throughout the project. This included focus groups, news bulletins, furniture testing and an online blog featuring photos and videos, helping to ensure that the new home met everyone’s current and future needs.
The building, comprising 50,000 sq ft spread over six floors, has undergone a transformation to reveal light, bright and airy spaces. Area Sq has undertaken an extensive office design and fit-out project, with sister company Sketch Studios supplying furniture and move management services to take the Royal College of Psychiatrists into a new chapter in their long history.
Upon entering the building, visitors are greeted by a striking entrance hall with double height atrium. The College’s treasured English crystal antique chandelier, which was given as a gift in the 1890s sits proudly alongside a video wall of moving art and a collection of contemporary furniture from Sketch, highlighting a design which incorporates the College’s history whilst also looking towards the future. Completing the entrance area is a striking stone and glass staircase which leads up to the media and events suite, meeting room and conference centre on the first floor.
The ground floor is also home to a stylish member’s lounge, complete with Lyndon Design furniture, which depicts the College’s heritage with works of fine art and antiques displayed throughout the meeting rooms and work zones, including a marble statue of Sigmund Freud. In the walnut-lined Antiquarian Room the College can, for the first time, display its antiquarian collection comprising more than 1,000 rare psychiatric books and dissertations dating back to 1483. Versatile meeting spaces and working areas have been meticulously designed to create a ‘home from home’ working environment, reflecting an increasing demand for softer, sociable and less formal meeting and working spaces. The lower ground floor houses Café 21, which provides a great informal setting to eat, meet, work and network in, and features Vitra Eames chairs, James Burleigh tables and Orangebox booths .
Mark Sheerman, Senior Designer at Area Sq comments: “Having the opportunity to deliver the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ new headquarters has been a truly exciting project. We are delighted to be part of this new chapter for the College and thrilled with how quickly members have flocked to their new home and taken to it so well.”
Vanessa Cameron, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Psychiatrists says: “Our relocation from a Grade II* listed building in Belgravia to our new home at 21 Prescot Street in London’s E1 has been a landmark move for the College. Area Sq’s design, fit out and furnishing of our new home remains in keeping with the College’s sense of heritage and history, whilst providing us with all of the design requirements necessitated by our staff and members as we look towards the future.”
