Holborn Links Estate

The Holborn Links Estate sits at the heart of Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden. Bound by High Holborn, Southampton Row and Bloomsbury Square, the estate is 2.5 acres and comprises 32 individual properties, made up of office, retail and residential use. Most of the buildings are listed and located in the Bloomsbury Conservation Area.

Our client appointed a select group of architects to each look at a number of buildings with the aim of creating a connected campus feel across the estate. We have been developing designs for a group of four Georgian terraced houses, all either Grade II or Grade II* listed properties, which until recently have been used as offices and language schools. In recent decades, a lack of investment and upkeep, the removal of much of the internal heritage elements and works carried out in a piecemeal fashion, meant they all required attention and restoration to realise their true potential.

We have proposed sympathetic works to return the buildings to the high quality office accommodation expected by the current occupier. Internally, the hierarchy of rooms has been restored by removing modern partitions and flexibility is achieved with carefully considered openings between rooms. Proposed new lighting, WCs and shower facilities have a fresh, contemporary feel and are balanced by more traditional finishes elsewhere. Heating and cooling will be provided by Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs), the internal units enclosed in feature joinery. The rear courtyards are to be refurbished and linked to internal breakout spaces to create quiet havens within this bustling area of the city.

We are also working through an extensive set of restoration and repair works to the external building fabric of the wider estate.