The Arding and Hobbs department store is Grade-II landmark at the centre of Clapham Junction. The retrofit project has restored original features and created new spaces for retail, leisure and office use. The roof has also been repurposed as an 743sqm terrace with 46sqm of biodiverse planting.

Who is on the project team? (designer, consultants, etc)

Blackburn & Co - Project Managers

Exigere - Quantity Surveyors

Norman Disney Young - M&E consultants

AKTII - Structural Engineers

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

The project involves the comprehensive restoration, refurbishment, and extension of a landmark Grade II Listed, purpose-built department store, which is located very prominently at the centre of Clapham Junction. The building has existed within its environment for over 100 years serving as a focal point for the neighbourhood, most recently as a Debenhams until the liquidation of the company in 2021, and following a slow period of decline that was then accelerated by the Covid pandemic. With very little investment and maintenance over many years, the building had fallen into a state of disrepair and consequently contributed negatively to the local environment. Since the project has been completed the building has been completely revitalised, and the surrounding streets have begun to thrive. The building provides creative and characterful workspace for around 1000 people on the upper floors, along with a spectacular landscaped roof terrace with panoramic views across London. A range of exciting retail and leisure uses accounting for around 30% of the total floorspace will occupy the basement, ground, and first floors, including a gym, Italian delicatessen, and a large corner café/restaurant, alongside a pre-existing clothing retailer which continued trading throughout the entire refurbishment. The project has restored Arding & Hobbs as an iconic building at the heart of Clapham Junction, that will bring far reaching social and economic benefits to the local neighbourhood for many years to come 

How does this project make use of an existing structure, place or building in a creative way? Is it innovative? How will this project continue to evolve or enable future flexibility and adaptation? Have you considered its resilience? 

The project is one of very few examples of its kind, where a historic department store has been creatively repurposed to provide flexible and characterful space for a diverse range of uses. The structure of the building has been cleverly adapted to accommodate two additional floors, and to increase the floor to ceiling height of the basement. The design of the 8m high roof pavilion is very innovative, being boldly contemporary whilst comfortably integrating with the historic host building through its brass-clad pleated façade, and signature curving parapet design that visually ties into the geometry found within the existing facades. The pavilion is constructed almost entirely from timber, with the structure formed using a diagrid of glulam beams with a CLT roof deck, and this contributes further to its originality. The upper floors of the building are now open plan, and are inherently flexible with windows on all four sides, and served by 10 staircases. This allows for multiple configurations of the floorplates, and opportunities for other uses to be introduced in the future. New escalators within the atrium provide the primary form of vertical transportation in the building which is highly inventive and unexpected within an office environment. Finally, mechanical and electrical services are all exposed and so are easily adapted which further increase the flexibility and resilience of the building. 

What is the environmental impact of the project? How will the carbon use and material impact of the development be mitigated? What is the sustainability strategy?

As a refurbishment of a historic listed structure, the vast majority of the existing building was retained, minimising the carbon impact through reduced embodied energy. New build elements were constructed largely in timber. The building is to be carbon neutral by commissioning a whole life cycle analysis (WLCA) for embodied and operational energy and carbon, with offsetting if required. Non-original existing glazing has been replaced to reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling as part of an energy reduction hierarchy, lean, clean, and green. Mixed-mode ventilation through high efficiency systems with heat recovery and LED lighting actively reduce energy consumption. No gas is used for office heating which is instead provided by VRF heating/cooling system. An onsite photovoltaic array generates some of the electricity to run the building. These are located over green & brown roofs which along with planting on the roof terrace, help to enrich local ecology. The transition from a failing department store to a thriving mixed-use building means that many more people will be inhabiting the building at any given time and for longer hours in the day. The café/restaurant on the prominent corner of the building is open from 08.00 to 12.30am and has already become a thriving new social hub for Clapham Junction. The retail and leisure space within the building has been fully let, and will provide a fantastic range of amenities for the local community. Once fully occupied later in 2024, the building will be transformational for Clapham Junction.