Friday, May 12, 2023

been there done that

12 MAY 2023 • WORK

Can disused retail spaces

transformed into offices

redefine the high street’s purpose?

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been there done that

VANTAG galeria, RISCONTROL Consultores and TGV Seguros have done this some years ago (2017)!

No need to follow trends » You use your brains and create what's GOOD 4 U

later on, others realize it's brilliant...

Thank you, then : )

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12 MAY 2023 • WORK

CAN DISUSED RETAIL SPACES TRANSFORMED INTO OFFICES REDEFINE THE HIGH STREET’S PURPOSE?

The pandemic has changed work and retail landscapes, and the fates of the office and high street are in jeopardy. Converting disused retail assets into amenity-led workspaces may revive them both.

As much as 40 per cent of the UK’s retail space will need to be reinvented in the next five years otherwise it risks becoming obsolete, a survey headed by Revo-Lambert Smith Hampton found. ‘While retail has been a fast-paced industry when it comes to products, it has been traditionally slow when it comes to property,’ says Richmal Wigglesworth, associate partner at architecture firm Sheppard Robson. ‘Retail and offices, if combined with care, can have a mutually supportive relationship that can help both typologies adjust to the turbulence of the last three years.’

Consequently, developers are converting disused retail assets into workspaces in an effort to lower high street vacancy rates. The adaptive reuse of these spaces into workspaces is helping to redefine the purpose of the high street, shifting away from one-dimensional shopping destinations towards mixed-use public space. These projects simultaneously address post-pandemic changes in consumption and work behaviours.

COURTESY OF ALFRED MEWS.

Cover and above: Heal’s Department Store in London’s West End is being converted into a mixed-use work-retail development by General Projects, making the once prosperous asset viable again.

The high street office: an unlikely match

One might, at first, question the conversion of retail space into office space in today’s work landscape. The return to the office has been met with reluctance – many have settled into hybrid or fully remote work routines. Will projects that transform one dying typology into another prove to be futile?

No, thinks Ben Cross, development director at General Projects, a real estate development company which focuses on the reuse of existing buildings. ‘It’s an outdated cliché to say that the office is dead,’ he says. ‘But what we do know is that people don’t want to travel for an hour to merely sit at a desk anymore. People want to come to the office to collaborate, socialize, benefit from what their workspace can offer and experience something they can’t find at home.’ This is no secret. High streets are often centrally located, well-connected to transit modes and are surrounded by other social and leisure amenities so placing offices at these destinations is quite logical.

Besides the compatibility between destination workplaces and the high street the adaptive reuse of disused retail assets in these locations is also the most sustainable path forward. ‘The biggest driver that has put reuse into the glossary of real estate is the climate crisis,’ explains Cross. ‘The construction industry’s massive impact means that a significant proportion of a building’s lifetime carbon quota is exhausted during construction. To reduce the built environment’s own environmental impact, the ability to reuse what we already have is essential.’

Beyond this, the redevelopment of historic landmarks like the Heal’s Department Store in London’s West End shows the potential of this typology transformation. ‘The history locked into beautiful historic buildings is something worth preserving, but in a revolutionary way, that doesn’t leave assets stranded and unused.’ The upper parts of the former department store and Grade II-listed building are being converted into new contemporary workspaces by architecture firm Buckley Gray Yeoman. Offices will be combined with retail and hospitality offers, with Heal’s still occupying the building’s ground floor retail space.

PHOTO: SIMON CALLAGHAN.
IMAGE: ECHOSPACE.

Spacemade Fulham, located on the first floor of Fulham Broadway in London, is being converted from a former Wetherspoons pub into a co-working space. It weaves the workspace into the local retail, leisure and hospitality hub. The space is set to launch in Summer 2023.

The extension of public space

In addition to programming and the combination of these complementary typologies, attention is being paid to ground-level activation. The development of surrounding public space into attractive destinations for working but also for shopping and socializing simultaneously brings together different user groups. ‘I think it’s important to recognize that department stores and shopping centres have traditionally been a kind of democratic, social space,’ says Wigglesworth.

This thinking reflects in projects like Shephard Robson’s mixed-use renovation of the Kendals department store, which doesn’t only consider the commercial offerings but also the creation of adjacent public space. ‘The quality of public space around the development, and how it brings the streetscape to life, is perhaps the most effective way of anchoring a new development in its surroundings,’ Wigglesworth notes. ‘Often new office development includes retail and café space at the ground floor level, to animate the arrival experience and to create a lively and commute-worthy experience.’ Along with the conversion of over 20,000-sq-m of office space, the Manchester-based project is to see the addition of a double-height entrance space that will merge the lower-ground and ground floors to create a 24/7 environment. It will act as a skatepark during the day and a music and theatre venue at night.

COURTESY OF SPACEMADE.

The Park House building in Leeds offers remote workers and freelancers a close-to-home amenity-filled workspace.

Towards the 15-minute city

Reawakening streetscapes by partially converting retail assets into office space echoes the undercurrents of the 15-minute city movement. ‘What we’re seeing now is a shift towards neighbourhoods becoming a catch-all for everything that people want in their daily lives, with “work” being added as a fourth element in the mixture of retail, residential and leisure,’ says Jonny Rosenblatt, cofounder of Spacemade, an operational partner for landlords placing coworking spaces in hospitality assets all over the UK. ‘Until now, the workplace hasn’t always been part of this mix.’

Currently operating over 20,000 sq-m of flexible office space, Spacemade’s untraditional approach to coworking allows landlords to maintain control of their building assets and introduce flexible space within their properties. It has successfully placed flex workspaces in unlikely locations, like a former Wethersons pub in West London and Pizza Express in Leeds. But its efforts to actively integrate workspaces into cities like London, Leeds and Birmingham, is not only a saving grace for landlords to convert their idle retail assets into co-working spaces: it also enables people to work closer to home.

‘Flexible workspace is often incorporated as part of the amenity offer of a building and re-enlivens the streetscape,’ says Rosenblatt. ‘It increases footfall to the surrounding area and creates a touchpoint for people to go to and provides a complementary offer that enriches the mixture of amenities available in a given location.’ Not every out-of-use retail space is compatible with the needs of the contemporary office – natural light, for example, isn’t always accessible in long purpose-built retail units. But Spacemade estimates that approximately five per cent of the current closed retail stock in the UK lends itself to being converted into easily accessible high street flex space.

The simultaneously changing work and retail landscapes present an opportunity to reimagine both. ‘There’s no real separation now of work, home and social space: they can sit cohesively together to enhance the high street and to make these spaces desirable locations for people to spend time,’ says Rosenblatt. ‘The way we work, socialize and live evolves – the high street also needs to also evolve in order to survive.’