RADCLIFFE CHAMBERS: REFURBISHMENT OF THE OFFICES FOR RADCLIFFE CHAMBERS CHANCERY LANE
BACKGROUND
Radcliffe Chambers is a barristers’ chambers specialising in commercial, insolvency, pensions, private client, property, and charity law. They provide legal advice and representation to law firms, corporates, financial institutions, trustees, charities, governments, private individuals, and professional advisers, such as accountancy firms and insolvency practitioners.
Radcliffe Chambers was created by the merger of two leading chancery chambers, 11 New Square, and 11 Old Square, in 2006. In 2015, they were joined by a highly regarded team of commercial and insolvency barristers from 11 Stone Buildings. All three chambers had traditions of excellence which continue to inform the high standards they aspire to today. Although their chambers are in London, their barristers work with clients on a national and international level.
Location: London, WC2A
Company Size: 50 Staff
Project Size: 2,500 Sqft
Sector: Barristers
Duration: 9 weeks
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Radcliffe Chambers’ offices were located within Lincoln’s Inn in New Square. Their building was a combination of Grade 11 period listed space, and a 1950’s addition, reconstructed to repair bomb damage sustained during the 2nd world war.
The client wanted to update their client reception, meet and greet facilities, and meeting rooms following a merger with another set. Our brief was to bring the original listed architectural interiors and the 1950s bland additions, into one cohesive space. Great care had to be taken to prevent damage to the listed fireplaces, wall panelling and ceiling features, whilst allowing the rooms to be adapted with the technology needed, to connect to the law courts or provide remote access to their clients. The designs had to be sympathetic to existing refurbished areas that where outside the scope of the project works.
CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS
The Chambers reception was very small and whilst it benefited from a high ceiling, it had no period features. The reception desk was in a small and poorly illuminated end of corridor location, with no natural light. This space was a dark and uninviting place to work. The reception area, waiting room and all the meeting rooms were dated and lacked a cohesive feel.
The proposed changes needed to respect the period setting and provide the right balance between refurbishment and restoration. This project required careful approval from our client and the landlords’ team. This was achieved by assembling 3d designs along with design samples, to explain our proposals clearly to the committee and the Inns surveyors. We avoided any structural changes which would require heritage approvals, as these processes can delay a project for months.
Meeting rooms in period buildings with timber wall panelling and high ceilings tend to have high acoustic reverberation levels, so solutions were needed to resolve this issue. It was critical that the conference video links for court hearings and client meetings could be conducted without poor sound levels.
RECOMMENDATION
Cityspace assembled 3-dimensional design visuals showing how the space could be utilised. Our acoustic partners “Acoustics by Design “were asked to test the reverberation times. They carried out sound tests in each room, determining the right level of acoustic absorption so we could address these issues to the client’s satisfaction. We installed acoustic artwork, which worked successfully to neutralise the reverberation in each meeting room. Our designers added decorative mouldings to the 1950 parts of the building to mirror the period features in the original space. The rooms were designed with specific lighting, soft furnishings, curtains, and new flooring. The lighting had to be suitable for extended client meetings, where reviewing of documents would require good levels of light regardless of the season. The AV we selected had minimal cable connection to avoid damaging the floors. We were able to simplify the system to one control cable, situated between the screen and the meeting room table control panel. This enabled installation of the cable within the ply sub straight, beneath the carpet finish.
The data routes from the meeting rooms to the comms rack ran through a 600mm thick wall, so any additional holes would have been prohibitively expensive. Our cable installers were tasked with a detailed survey to rationalize the cables being installed and remove any redundant cables, so new ones could be added without the need for new holes. Several further aesthetic improvements were made including discretely hiding the air conditioning units, pipework, electrical and data cables which had previously been located in surface mounted cable trunking.
The reception had a new bespoke designed joinery desk and bookcase, which incorporated the chambers logo using Corian. Great attention was given to dressing the reception area with light as no natural source was available. The results reflected an inviting and warm space. The bland walls were now divided with panel mouldings, adding texture to large expanses of painted surfaces. The doors were enhanced with matching ironmongery, and all light switches and socket were replaced with antique brass.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
The Chambers now presents as one seamless bright space, with an appropriate balance achieved between refurbishment and restoration. The modern touches have enabled the set to clearly represent their brand whilst providing discreet and effective technology to communicate with their clients and courts in a professional setting.
