Client: Derwent London
Dates: 2001—2006
Architect:
John McAslan + Partners
Consultants
Rybka Battle
Gardiner & Theobald
Price & Myers
Meedhurst Project Management
General Contractor:
Kier
28 Dorset Square is a grade II-listed townhouse within the Marylebone Conservation Area that had been converted into offices, and compromised by an unsympathetic concrete extension added in the 1960s. Comprehensive renovation included development of a new architectural character for the extension that responds more appropriately to the scale, proportions and architectural language of its Georgian neighbours.
Facades with a regular grid of frameless, punched windows are formed in Jura limestone, selected to complement the London stock brick found in the square and the red brick and stone of nearby Marylebone Station. Ribbed and striated stonework on the ground floor recalls bands of stucco render in the townhouses.
A full-height glazed link between the townhouse and extension provides shared circulation space, allowing existing staircases to be removed to create additional floor area for offices. It clearly articulates a distinction between the old and new parts of the building whose harmony has been restored.
