Brook Street

Carefully considered concept for a significant new building as part of Grosvenor’s South Molton Triangle development.

Client Grosvenor
Sector Workplace
Size 13,500m²
Location Mayfair, London

Grosvenor approached Fathom to undertake a feasibility study to assess if a brick building of scale could work on a prominent site at the corner of Brook Street, Davies Street and Davies Mews.

Their brief sought a high-quality mixed-use development introducing a contemporary new presence to Mayfair, offering an engaging retail street frontage with workspace floors above.

A considered approach was needed to the prestigious site, which occupied an entire urban block facing Davies Street, flanked by Brook Street to the south and Davies Mews to the north.

Design proposals needed to respond to immediate listed and heritage neighbours – including Claridge’s – as well as modern buildings emerging around the new Crossrail development.

Contextual analysis

We began by conducting a thorough audit of the heritage context, exploring proportions, horizontal and vertical expression, symmetry, materiality and craft.

Having developed a deep understanding of the site, our proposals sought to knit a nine-storey retail and office building into the streetscape, establishing a distinctive corner presence and creating a modern addition to Mayfair.

Massing is broken down into four distinct elements to address the differing prominence and scale of each corner and reduce the impact of upper floors on surrounding buildings.

Slim window proportions punch through the brick elevations to relate to neighbouring Georgian townhouses, with widths responsive to the arches at street level.

Brick as woven fabric

Read as a calm volume from a distance, up close the brick façade displays complexity and depth via a delicate play of light, shadow, rhythm and pattern.

Ingrained facade

Richly detailed brick was proposed as a material deeply ingrained in the Mayfair townhouse vernacular. Freeing the brick from its usual load bearing duties as prefabricated elements, it is used as a delicate, taught fabric screen dressing the building with expressed stitches, seams and texture.

At ground floor, the fabric is more fluid as it drapes around double height arches tying the primary building volumes to the street and celebrating their public use. Digital tools are used to craft contemporary versions of rubbed or gauged brick historically used in the local Arts & Crafts shopfronts.