Heritage
Weston Williamson + Partners
We are a team of 150 professionals in the UK, Australia and Canada, of 15 nationalities, working flexibly and collaboratively with clients and the wider industry. Our diverse international team members bring their own unique backgrounds and perspectives to projects and to the people that we work with. We are natural collaborators, keen to talk, to listen and to understand. It is by working closely with everyone involved – clients, stakeholders, colleagues and end users - that we deliver successful projects.
We are a design-led practice, full of people who relish a challenge and with a strong record of delivery. Our work is all about the people who use it; how they will inhabit and experience the buildings, places and artefacts that we design. We take a whole life approach, considering how our designs will adapt, retain their relevance and continue to be enjoyed for years to come. Our ambition is simple but expansive, shaping cities for the future, involving transport, master planning, public space, environment and living. People are at the heart of everything we do. We want to design buildings and places that are a pleasure to use and create civilised beautiful environments that enrich lives. We specialise in creating solutions for complex projects, large or small, international and local. We get to the essence of what people need from buildings and spaces, listening, challenging and responding to clients and stakeholders with elegant, bold solutions. We set out a clear and engaging vision that helps people get involved with the design and the process.
Heritage
The art of conservation is dependent upon knowledge and experience of historic methods of construction and an eye for detail. Our approach is based on thorough research and understanding of the brief and the physical relationships, operational requirements and constraints, which are often tied to the history of sensitive sites. We offer expert design advice for historic buildings as well as appraisals of new buildings and their historic contexts.
Our projects successfully balance the complexities of designing in or alongside listed structures with the delivery of modern elegant new buildings.
Valentine Place
London, UK Conservation area setting Refurbishment and retention of original features Health and wellbeing Stakeholder engagement
We refurbished a 19th century warehouse in a conservation area in Southwark to become our new offices. The challenge was to create an environment of high architectural merit, integrating the new design in to the heritage setting. Previously used as a photographic studio, the upper floor was sub-divided into a series of dark rooms with mezzanine storage above. Partitions were removed to open up the space and original timber roof trusses were exposed, restored and fire protected. The original brickwork was also exposed to preserve the warehouse aesthetic and ensure that the building sits comfortably within its conservation area setting.
We consider old buildings like a doctor might examine an old person. First you take a series of x-rays, including all the joints – surveys, measurements and details to appreciate the problem. Then you try to rehabilitate, prolonging and enriching the quality of life by utilising high tech replacement parts – plastic hips or steel connectors – saving whatever is technically possible using the skills of a surgeon rather than a butcher.” Founding Partner Chris Williamson
66 Portland Place
London, UK Multi-use space Conservation of building fabric Grade i listed
The Grade I listed RIBA headquarters building was refurbished under a series of selffinanced schemes for large areas of the building. The first project was the Jarvis Lecture Theatre followed by the Florence Hall and restaurant. Weston Williamson produced a series of exploratory sketches, which were used to test ideas and brief the house architects.
London Bridge Station
London, UK Urban design Renovation and new build Product design
The London Bridge Jubilee line station showcases both modern and Victorian engineering through an inventive use of architectural features and design. We worked collaboratively with our client engineers and contractors to respect and enhance the station’s significant heritage, through a considerate choice of materials and innovative construction methods.
Our approach was to envisage what the great Victorian architects and engineers would have created with modern methods of construction and available materials.� Founding Partner Andrew Weston
Bandirma Park
Bandirma, Turkey Archaeological remains Sensitive heritage site
We designed a new destination recreation park and design hub in Bandirma, an historic seaside city in Turkey. The site has an industrial and military past; architectural remains were carefully woven between and through a series of buildings and spaces in order to bring them back to life. This spectacular environment successfully engages with its past and creates an atmosphere of excitement and experimentation for the future.
Baskerville House
Birmingham, UK Grade II listed Space planning BREEAM rating ‘Very Good’ Stakeholder engagement
Network Rail needed to relocate 900 staff from offices across Birmingham into three floors (80,000 sq. ft.) of the Grade II listed Baskerville House in the City Centre. At the same time they wanted to make a major cultural shift towards ‘agile working’. Our design delivered creative and efficient workspace tailored to the specific needs of their project teams, while respecting and enhancing the listed features of the building.
We are really pleased with what’s been delivered. Baskerville House is a magnificent building and ideal for our agile-working requirements.� Network Rail spokesperson
Westminster School
London, UK Renovation and refurbishment Integrated technology Furniture design
In the late 1980s, stimulated by an article Chris Williamson wrote for New Scientist magazine about laboratory design (and more specifically laboratory furniture) Science masters at the Westminster School Science Centre commissioned us to transform an office building into a new science block, incorporating our own furniture system. Innovative factory-made, pre-wired workstations are linked to high-level service trunks. Using milking parlour technology, waste is removed by vacuum drainage. The workstations with their integral service arrangement were simple to install and required only one service riser through the building. High quality aluminium furniture was built on the latest computer-controlled CNC machinery, with components rationalised to minimise waste from each aluminium sheet. Each workstation could be removed and used elsewhere later if needed. And, instead of a planned three year fit-out, the school was able to take over the completed building in less than a year.
South Kensington Station
London, UK Extensive stakeholder engagement Grade II listed revetment wall
After more than a decade of rejected design applications by different architects, listed consent and prior approval has been granted for a new ticket hall and platform at Grade II listed South Kensington station, one of London’s landmark underground stations. Our design holistically addresses the operational capacity upgrade requirements while preserving, enhancing and celebrating the station’s key listed heritage assets, including John Fowler’s Grade II listed revetment wall.
Weston Williamson + Partners designs for the Phase 1 scheme make a considerable contribution to improving circulation, capacity, wayfinding and enhancing the user experience in the station. The designs are sympathetic to the heritage significance of the station, with sight lines and scale that restore a sense of the grandeur of the original station, without pastiche.� The Exhibition Road Cultural Group
Paddington Station
London, UK Grade I listed Wayfinding and orientation Stakeholder engagement
We worked with multiple stakeholders, including Heritage England to transform this Grade I listed railway station into a world-class transport interchange. A bigger underground station, a new entrance from the north, and a new taxi facility made the space more userfriendly for people on foot and in vehicles, and future-proofed it for further growth and development, while maintaining the listed features.
The design for PIP is the first phase of Crossrail’s impact on Paddington Station. The solution is simple and effective and provides users with improved access and a high quality passenger environment. PIP, combined with the main Crossrail station works currently under construction along Eastbourne Terrace, has sought to (and Crossrail believes will deliver) a high quality integrated intervention and addition to Paddington Station, referencing within its contemporary design the heritage of one of the world’s historic railway stations.� Julian Robinson, Head of Architecture, Crossrail
Victoria Station
London UK Grade Il listed Complex interfaces Stakeholder engagement Public realm Public inquiry
Victoria Station has been brought up to date with a world class design upgrade, which makes access easier and safer and meets passenger demand for the next 50 years. The work involved major alterations to a hugely busy commuter station with significant heritage issues. The station building itself is Grade II listed and several of the surrounding buildings, including the Palace Theatre and Victoria Station Arcade are also listed.
Woolwich Elizabeth Line Station
London, UK Historical context Public realm Public and private funding
Drawing inspiration from the rich historic context of the site, Woolwich station is situated at the heart of the Royal Arsenal masterplan, acting as a catalyst for regeneration, supporting 3,750 new homes and new cultural, heritage, commercial and leisure quarters. It is one of 10 new stations serving London’s Elizabeth line. To link the station with its remarkable history, two major facades depict a contemporary representation of a memorial bronze plaque, which was produced on the site during WWI. The plaques, popularly known as the Dead Man’s Penny, were given to the widows of soldiers that gave their lives; over one million were cast. The station entrance incorporates over 350 cast bronze panels, each two metres wide and weighing more than 80kg. They express an exploded ‘Woolwich rifling’ motif, which was developed on site in 1865. The panels are manufactured with the same authentic techniques used at the Royal Arsenal site during the war.
Baker Street Station
London UK Grade II listed Public realm Masterplan
Our masterplan for Baker Street station creates a new civic destination, maximising revenue for Transport for London, improving station operations and providing an exciting new amenity for the area. As part of this process we reviewed the current retail offering at the station, a listed building with significant heritage features, and prepared a design guide setting out the principles for improvements to the shop-fronts and surrounding public realm.
Weston Williamson + Partners | Heritage
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