Red Lion Chambers appointed Woodhouse to significantly upgrade a Grade II building at the heart of the historic legal district in London. The forward-thinking client team wanted to embrace new technology and ways of working and create a modern work environment befitting a successful barristers’ chambers.
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We do love a challenge at Woodhouse and the challenge at Red Lion Chambers was doing all this whilst respecting the Grade II listing and retaining the building’s heritage and historical features. Navigating a rabbit warren of narrow corridors was part and parcel of the job here! The heritage panelling was beautiful but needed to be replaced – we took moulds of this and the ornate ceiling cornices to recreate every detail.
At every step we made sure the modern interior complemented the heritage features we were retaining. All infrastructure in the ageing building required upgrading and the carbon footprint of the operation was also significantly improved – the old gas system was replaced with energy efficient air conditioning and a modern heat pump system (60% more efficient) and ULED lighting.
The basement is now fitted out with modern showers and changing rooms to facilitate healthy living and breakout facilities providing space for staff to mingle. The atmospheric courtyard now has a decked terrace which can be used for social occasions, industry networking or graduate recruitment events.
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The management team at Red Lion Chambers are keen to embrace new ways of working and the principle of hotdesking, and the resulting space is flexible with less fixed desks and a superior breakout area for greater collaboration firmwide.
The ground floor features state of the art conference rooms with the latest AV technology which enables barristers to embrace modern working practices – dedicated video suites enable secure streaming into legal proceedings. The third floor is home to a larger, bustling clerk space, the central hub of the practice.
Overall, the project delivers something old and something new, retaining the valuable heritage of the building whilst providing a thoroughly modern and progressive work environment with excellent facilities for all members of staff.
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