Ben Kelly

When the Design Council chose a former telephone exchange in the heart of Covent Garden for its headquarters, BKD was asked to transform two floors into a flexible open-plan office, meeting and venue space. Massive pivoting and sliding doors were used to divide the space into a series of easily reconfigured seminar and meeting rooms, as well as a café and reception area. Services and amenities were hidden by a curved wall, while the addition of a sculptural steel and timber staircase, cutting through the exposed concrete slab, enabled access to the library, glass-box meeting rooms and IT resources. A selection of light, natural materials were used such as American oak, western red cedar, birch-faced ply, terrazzo flooring, Kirkstone slate and coloured glass. Recycled and found objects were also specified, including Made of Waste’s distinctive recycled plastic, as well as huge telegraph poles, which hinted at the building’s former usage. 

Design Council website