Refurbishment of art deco offices
Zeta House Putney, London
The brief
The challenges with this refurbishment of art deco offices were mostly logistic. This is a prominent building located very close to a major railway line in London. So, we had to factor in getting materials and vehicles onto a site with poor access. We also had to accommodate the people working in the building during 9-5 office hours.
Specific elements of the build
This concrete framed building is clad with brickwork. We discovered that the framework had the so-called 'London disease' which required major structural work. This meant surrounding the building with scaffolding. As it fronted onto the main train line into London, the scaffolding had be cantilevered to the rail line.
We removed the external skin of brickwork to expose and treat the main concrete frame. We then in-filled the brickwork with thin Belgium Bricks to match those existing.
All the work was carried out during normal working hours which meant accommodating people working in other areas of the building. This, together with the fact that the property is situated on a very busy London junction, called for thoughtful project management.