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SODA was responsible for the branding and graphics, as well as the interiors and the colour palette needed to work across both 3D and 2D, Potter explains. Neutral beiges and browns are combined with luxurious details and art deco touches. On top of the ‘sense of decadence’ established through colour and material choice are the elegant precision details of automotive manufacturing and machine age finesse, represented through metal surfaces and fixtures of glossy chrome, brushed steel or a car-related metalworking technique known as knurling (a kind of crosshatched effect), recreated by Mayes & Warwick. Tea points feature the distinctive steel countertops and splashbacks, and cabinets with knurled metal handles. Given Brock House’s unusual feature of glazing on all sides with large showroom windows, this space – where SODA located most of the communal spaces and amenities – enjoys an audience of passersby.
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The philharmonic/cinematic references ‘set the stage’ as it were, with a heavy curtain hung continuously around the central core acting as a backdrop upon which the hive of activity on the ground floor plays out. SODA was keen to incorporate both sets or references and was able to reconcile the two in one design by applying each on different levels. Physical evidence of the latter was also found when the building was being stripped out, with the discovery of steelwork reinforcing sections of the ground floor to support heavy machinery.īrock House sits on Great Portland Street, known as ‘Motor Row’ in the 1920s and 1930s.
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‘Digging around’ in this history, SODA found some ‘fantastic’ images, such as an old photograph of the space in use as a philharmonic hall with the St James Orchestra, and a poster from its time as a showroom for the Automotive Products Company. But the building also has a history of car design: one side of Brock House is on Great Portland Street, which, thanks to an abundance of car showrooms, became colloquially known as Motor Row in the 1920s and 1930s Brock House itself hosted the manufacturing of car parts. It was built as a philharmonic hall in 1907–08 and was used in various guises by the BBC for much of the 20th century, sitting right next to the corporation’s Broadcasting House on Portland Place. In the case of Brock House, the building had a number of historical uses that could inspire an idiosyncratic interior scheme.
Soda sense windows#
The high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows in the lounge bring in plenty of natural light. This is because TOG does not have a particular style associated with its workspaces, SODA director Russell Potter explains, but is instead keen for the architects to drive the concept for each one, inspired by the unique history and features of a site. Each of them are very different: Liberty House with scalloped edges and colourful printed surfaces inspired by the department store’s signature fabrics, and Thomas House with timber-clad volumes plotting out a ‘rigorous’ layout inspired by Regency-era squares. THIS IS the third project that design studio SODA has completed for flexible workspace provider The Office Group (TOG), after Thomas House, in Pimlico’s Eccleston Square, and Liberty House, next to the Liberty London department store. SODA”s third project for the Office Group takes inspiration from the building’s history