CAP House Phase I
Staircases in office buildings are often finished in hard surfaces such as terrazzo and plaster, and although these areas are small on plan, they form a continuous acoustic space throughout the height of the building.
At CAP House, the common parts of a 1950s office building suffered from excessive reverberation, and were visually undramatic. The solution was to install floating acoustic panels to the ceilings and to use these for simple lighting effects. Now people can hear each when they speak in the lift lobbies and staircase, and the wall and ceiling surfaces become part of a potentially much more interesting sculptural experience of the space.
At ground floor the building opens into a glass walled corner entrance lobby, with curved terazzo steps leading up into the building. A simple sculpture was created, using a stainless steel fin projecting from a mirrored wall, reminding us of the buildings original purpose as offices for the Argentine meat export trade from nearby Smithfield Market.
Contractor: DDC Ltd
Sector: Commercial
Location: Long Lane, London EC1, UK
Proj/Arch: Marcus Beale
Job/Arch: Ian Little
Status: Built
Year: 2000
At CAP House, the common parts of a 1950s office building suffered from excessive reverberation, and were visually undramatic. The solution was to install floating acoustic panels to the ceilings and to use these for simple lighting effects. Now people can hear each when they speak in the lift lobbies and staircase, and the wall and ceiling surfaces become part of a potentially much more interesting sculptural experience of the space.
At ground floor the building opens into a glass walled corner entrance lobby, with curved terazzo steps leading up into the building. A simple sculpture was created, using a stainless steel fin projecting from a mirrored wall, reminding us of the buildings original purpose as offices for the Argentine meat export trade from nearby Smithfield Market.
Contractor: DDC Ltd
Sector: Commercial
Location: Long Lane, London EC1, UK
Proj/Arch: Marcus Beale
Job/Arch: Ian Little
Status: Built
Year: 2000
