Chariot Oil and Gas is an hydrocarbon exploration company headquartered in London’s Old Bond Street. This remodelling of their Mayfair premises rationalises the existing historic building while adding a series of new elements.

Alluding to the geological strata revealed in oil and gas exploration, subtly striated layers of stone add visual and textural interest to the interiors. As an explicit and poetic expression of Paul McAneary Architects’s concern with materials or ‘substance’ this also has other resonances – the capacity to endure, to be authentic, to lasting, to be timeless, age with grace and use, suffused with a pervading sense of weight and rigour.

Illuminated in a way that dramatically highlights the texture of the stone, the panels form a compelling intervention, powerfully emblematic of the transformation of the interior. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value Private

Location Mayfair, London

Client Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd

Date 2010

Area 276m²

Design Team Paul McAneary Architects

Supplier Direct Stone, Detail Lighting

Paul McAneary Architects won a competition held by technology company Dyson to devise a design for the washroom of the future. Clean-lined and minimal, employing natural materials, it reflects Paul McAneary Architects’s skill in creating a calm, sensual atmosphere for the daily routines of personal care. Yet it is also ergonomically efficient and ultra hygienic.

The arrangement of fittings means that users do not actually touch them, so eliminating the potential for the transfer of bacteria. Synthesising technology with aesthetics, Dyson’s distinctive Airblade hand dryer is set in a specially designed wooden cabinet characterised by its elegant joinery. Such attention to detail is typical of Paul McAneary Architects’s approach, investing even the smallest project with rigour and refinement. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Client Dyson

Date 2010

Design Team Paul McAneary Architects

Awards 2010 BD Dyson Airblade Washroom Competition, 2011 Shortlisted Young Architect of the Year

In 2010 Paul McAneary Architects moved their offices, the short distance from Soho to Covent Garden, to a 17th century printers works. The old stone building is situated in Flitcroft St, near the soon to-be transport hub of London, Tottenham Court Road. The project aimed to reinstate open spaces that had been partitioned during the building’s previous conversion into an office.

To make the basement level functional, it was imperative to increase the height of the room. Paul McAneary Architects used a special cast fibre concrete floor, that could be set to only 70mm thick. A laboratory has been incorporated into the new layout, a space for the architects and designers to experiment with new materials and finishes, gaining first-hand expertise in their rapidly developing field. Architecture models can also be created safely and efficiently using the defined area.

The open plan space is designed for exhibitions and launches, with clean light walls and completely adaptable lighting. 4 light wells, from the street level bring natural light down to the basement, above alcoves that can be adapted for a plethora of uses. A structural glass floor will bring the maximum amount of light possible down, whilst connecting the two areas of office.

Ground Floor

The ground floor facade has been developed to bring the maximum amount of natural light possible. The largest structural glass panels achievable have been inserted within the existing openings in the facade. The heightened visibility, and renovated facade, will regenerate Flitcroft street, ensuring it maintains the vibrance of this central London location for years to come.

A sky light has been introduced into the back of the office, bringing light to the full extent of the plan. It is placed above a design room, directly above a glass box down into the basement level. Connecting all the levels of the project, and providing a shaft for large architectural models to be extracted gracefully through.

Furniture

Paul has designed the desks that will make up the essential part of any office. They exude the minimal elegance of the Paul McAneary Architects office, a simple grey frame with a frosted glass top resting on top. The glass top acts as a light box, ensuring every architect can trace at their desk whilst working simultaneously on their mac. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value £100k
Location Westminister, London
Area 238m²
Design Team Paul McAneary Architects
Design Service From design concept to detailed design through to end of construction, interior design, lighting design, glazing design, furniture design, material creation, survey, planning, building control, 3D visualisation
Supplier Plank Co
Press 2018 ‘Paul McAneary Architects: how a Japanese facade transformed a London alley;’ OnOffice 21 February

This proposal for a Toni & Guy hair salon updates the hair salon’s original interior brand identity, which had become marooned in a monochrome and brushed steel time warp.

Based on the unifying concept of a luxe spa, the aim was to revitalise both the space and the brand by finessing a few key moves around the notion of warm minimalism, rationalising the ceiling landscape and introducing supergraphics.

Simple and streamlined, the scheme it demonstrates the potential of well-chosen materials and the seamless integration of technology.

[By Catherine Slessor*]

At Chatfield Road, a riverside site in Battersea, this project augments and remodels an existing four storey block of flats by adding an extra four storeys. The aim was to maximise views and minimise overshadowing of existing buildings. The block is set back from the river and surrounded by much taller residential structures, some as high as 16 storeys. In this context the extra height of the redeveloped building can be justified, consolidating its urban presence and providing 20 new residential units.

In effect, the existing building becomes a kind of rusticated brick base for the new addition. This is clearly expressed by contrasting use of materials, with the extra storeys finished in smooth render. Five per flats floor are efficiently arranged around a circulation core. Individual apartments are dual aspect to maximise light and views, enhanced by generous terraces on the two riverfront elevations. The impact of the increased massing is tempered by a stepped section where the new addition meets an existing three storey block. The stepped form creates a series of enlarged terraces and reduces overshadowing. Interiors are simple, spacious and clean-lined, employing techniques of space planning developed in a previous Paul McAneary Architects residential remodelling project, the White Oak House. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value TBC
Location Wandsworth, London
Client Landmark Estates
Date Current
Area 1,924.96m²
Design Team Paul McAneary Architects
Design Service From design concept to detailed design, glazing design, 3D visualisation

Combining the luxury of boutique hotels with the freewheeling spirit of international backpacking, this new concept for the first Backpacker Hotel was designed to colonise an existing building in Hoxton in London’s dynamic East End. The project reconfigures and transforms a redundant nightclub into a unique ‘hybrid accommodation’ that is both affordable yet with the distinctive design ethos of a boutique hotel.

The client asked that the existing buildings be extended and remodelled with a new public bar, shop and other facilities to accommodate a new generation of backpackers. Paul McAneary Architects inventive proposal proposal adds a double height space and unifies the overall composition with a new screen of expanded Corten mesh that veils and wraps the main street facade. The fine metal mesh allows light to flow into the depths of the building while simultaneously ensuring privacy for the hotel’s clientele. Corten’s pre-rusted, proto-industrial quality aptly reflects the studied grunginess of its surroundings and dramatically emphasises the hotel’s presence as a new city landmark.

The original Victorian facade is retained and enhanced by the presence of the new Corten screen. During the day, the fine mesh creates beautiful changing reflections while at night, the building becomes a softly glowing lantern, blending with London’s orange street lights. The impact is striking; urban and sophisticated at the same time, epitomising the architectural and programmatic impetus of the project. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value Undisclosed
Location Hoxton, London
Client Private
Date 2012 – Ongoing
Area 345m²
Design Team Paul McAneary Architects
Design Service From design concept to detailed design, interior design, lighting design, 3D visualisation
Press 2013 BD New Architects 2013 2012 ‘Hackney hotel breaks mould’, BD Magazine, 5 April 2012

Ingeniously exploiting cramped site conditions, this major residential development in Cheshunt, a commuter town to the north of London, consists of two three-storey blocks of flats.Their crisply faceted forms contain 11 units and 7 units respectively. As the site occupies a former car park, the planners originally stipulated that parking should be included at basement level.

However this proved too costly, and Paul McAneary Architects successfully negotiated with the planners that it could be accommodated elsewhere. Overlooking by neighbours, another potentially contentious issue, was solved by the simple expedient of a strategically-placed green screen of planting.

Intended for the private sector but priced affordably, flats are open-plan and economically planned. Characterised by cut-outs and cantilevers, each of the blocks resemble a Chinese puzzle box, fitting together with elegant precision. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value Private
Location Cheshunt, London
Client Private
Date 2017
Area m2
Design Team Paul McAneary Architects
Design Service From design concept to detailed design, interior design, lighting design, glazing design, landscape design, survey, building control, 3D visualisation

Paul McAneary Architects were appointed to provide accommodation for 5000 students across Germany on city centre sites from Kiel in the north to Munich in the south. The aim of the project is to remodel and adapt existing redundant buildings of the post-war era in an efficient and economical manner.

Each building is stripped back to its structural frame and effectively redesigned. Borrowing techniques from yacht design, in which function is paramount and space standards squeezed to an absolute minimum, bedroom are compactly but ingeniously planned. Though necessarily small, at 10 sqm per unit, bedrooms are augmented by more generous areas of communal space to encourage social interaction.

Within each unit, the considered application of design techniques such as shadow gaps, lighting and mirrors mitigates the compressed scale to create a highly civilised environment for studying and sleeping. Through the use of 150 mm shadow gaps, furniture appears to ‘float’ off the floor, and the furniture itself draws inspiration from classic Bauhaus models with elegant metal frames, so rooms are not dominated by bulky furniture.

Materials are carefully selected to require minimal maintenance and actually improve with use and age. Taking advantage of prefabrication, bathrooms are modular pods, with a simple plumbing connection that slots quickly and neatly into each unit. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value £350M
Location Kiel, Bremen, Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Germany
Client DREF
Date 2014-2017
Design Team Paul McAneary Architects
Design Service From design concept to detailed design, interior design, lighting design, glazing design, furniture design, 3D visualisation, Creation of Design Brand Manual for Design Implementation

Described by Max Fraser in the London Design Guide as a ‘unique and dynamic design store’, Mint has become a fixture in the capital’s design scene. Founded in 1998, it is known for the discerning curatorial and commercial eye of its owner, Lisa Kanafani, who presents exclusive works by international designers and emerging talents, along with an eclectic mixture of furniture and objects.

For the remodelled store in London’s fashionable Brompton Cross, Paul McAneary Architects carved out the existing space and inserted structural glass floors to channel natural light down into a new basement, orchestrating a sense of drama and visual connection. A beautifully detailed staircase with rough sawn oak treads, flush glass balustrade and metal handrail is a design object in itself, elevating the act of circulation into a considered and pleasurable experience.

Synthesising modern and traditional references, the reworked timber facade experiments with the proportions of the existing Neoclassical building. And, in an ironic touch, the ground floor was originally occupied by a Bulthaup kitchen showroom designed by John Pawson, for whom Paul McAneary worked prior to establishing his own studio. The commission involved the removal of Pawson’s interior, a case of the talented pupil superseding his master. [By Catherine Slessor*]

Contract Value £200k
Location Knightsbridge, London
Client Private
Date From – 2009
Area 325m2
Design Team Paul McAneary Architects
Design Service From design concept to detailed design through to end of construction, interior design, lighting design, glazing design
Main Contractor Debowski
Supplier Direct Stone, Yello Submarine, Via Bizzuno
Press 2011 ‘Fresh as mint’, Interior Public Space, August 2011 RIBA London Directory Book 2011 2010 Max Fraser, ‘London Design Guide’, 2010 Edition