Derwent London : White Collar Factory opens

Derwent London today announces the opening of White Collar Factory EC1. Already acknowledged as one of the most visionary developments of recent years, White Collar Factory combines the wisdom of well-built industrial spaces with best practice in modern office design and placemaking.

Located overlooking Old Street Roundabout, at the heart of London's Tech Belt, and designed by renowned architectural practice Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), White Collar Factory is one of Derwent London's most ambitious schemes to date. Distinctive features include 3.5m high ceilings, concrete core cooling, a 150m rooftop running track, communal roof terrace a new landscaped public space and the ability to accommodate flexible occupation. A game-changer in sustainable and interactive workplace design, the development is the latest realisation of Derwent London's business model of creating well-designed and innovative office space.

The 293,000 sq ft mixed-use development includes a 237,000 sq ft landmark office tower, where the first tenants are already in occupation, creating an energetic community in this new Tech Belt landmark. Tenants include Adobe, AKTII, BGL, Box.com, Capital One, Runpath, Spark44, The Office Group and Workshop Coffee. The tower forms part of a new urban campus with a further 56,000 sq ft of offices, studios, incubator space, restaurants and apartments, set around a new landscaped area of public realm, 'Old Street Yard'. The low cost, low energy and low carbon campus style of the development offers an innovative user-focused design approach that will become a blueprint for future workplace design.

In addition to the buildings, the new public space at Old Street Yard embraces the energy and vibrancy of the local area, contributing to Old Street as a business hub/tech city quarter and the changing City borders. 'Network', a striking 9ft bronze sculpture by Thomas J Price was commissioned by Derwent London and stands as the centrepiece of Old Street Yard. The project is the latest iteration of an eight-year research initiative between and Derwent London and AHMM, which has also produced projects including Tea Building E1 and Stirling Prize-shortlisted Angel Building EC1. The White Collar Factory project was led by Simon Silver and Paul Williams, directors of Derwent London, and AHMM director Simon Allford, working in collaboration with engineering firms AKTII and Arup, and consultants AECOM and Jackson Coles.
www.whitecollarfactory.com
Simon Silver, Director of Derwent London, commented:
'We are delighted to launch White Collar Factory - our most progressive project to date. It is the culmination of years of thought, research, design development and collaboration with our team to produce a new type of sustainable workplace for London. The strong line-up of occupiers, despite the uncertain economic and political landscape in the UK, is testament to the building's innovative design and showcases the strength of the Derwent London offering.'