Buckle Street Studios, located in the Aldgate East neighborhood of London, is a new thirteen-story building comprised of 103 compact apartments, a mezzanine co-working space, coffee shop, meeting rooms and a concept store. Grzywinski+Pons designed the building from the ground up as well as all of the interiors and much of the furniture.

The urban infill site is part of a dense and varied assemblage of buildings in both scale and style. Low-rise heritage structures sit directly adjacent to contemporary high-rises. During the planning process, Grzywinski+Pons worked alongside the municipal authorities to ensure their design fulfilled the aspired role of architectural intermediary both in mass and articulation.They employed radiused corners and transferred much of the scheme’s structural load to an expressionistic double-height parabolic arch at grade to make the building sit softly within its block all the while drawing inspiration from the round headed windows, arched cornices and rounded quoins of the heritage buildings on the neighboring streets.

Grzywinski+Pons decided to articulate our building’s mass in three sections. While the constraints of a small floor plate precluded actual formal setbacks, they employed dramatic but ordered material shifts throughout the building’s strata to define a pediment and crown. This tiered approach also allows the building to become more light and transparent as it rises.The base of building is clad in rusticated, nickel finished metal panels composed in our modern take on a progressive ordered scale. The fenestration on all three building tiers is comprised of the same nickel finish metal and the coffered panels serve as spandrel covers and artful ventilation grilles while harmonizing the stratified facade.

Above this pediment Grzywinski+Pons used a warm grey hand-laid waterstruck brick with projected soldier courses at the spandrels and a projected cornice below the material shift at the base of the crown. The brick spandrels and other transitional detailing imbue the already richly textured skin with even more depth.The diaphanous crown of the building was designed to be equally proportionate to the base and is clad completely in glass block. 

In the public spaces of the project, this integration from the inside out is fundamental. The principle organizing element of these areas is the parabolic arch. Legible from the street through expansive glazing, it also supports and defines the mezzanine within to the double height space at grade while consolidating the load of the front half of the building above. The structural expressionism is softened with an integrated timber balustrade and fluted paneling, clay plaster finishes, dress curtains and soft furnishings. The floors and skirtings of fixed joinery are clad in brick congruent to the building’s facade.

Lower in the building, these organic materials have their texture and depth amplified by the directional pooled light from windows Grzywinski+Pons positioned to maximize views and mitigate overlook. They also designed the furniture to implicitly organize small spaces into areas for disparate activities. By linking sumptuous custom sofas to beds and designing compact tiered tables, shallow linear shelves and hanging timber trays, the imperative to efficiently facilitate functionality yielded a comprehensive aesthetic that manages to feel luxurious. The palette: blush tinted clay, sage, timber, jute, creamy stone and velvety neutrals, further contribute to the plush serenity of the studios.