Groundbreaking White Collar Factory building opens in London

Derwent London has announced the opening of White Collar Factory. The firm claims that the project is one of the most visionary developments of recent years, White Collar Factory combines the look of a well-built industrial space with modern office design. Located near Old Street Roundabout in North East London and designed by architectural practice Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), the features of the White Colla Factory include 3.5m high ceilings, concrete core cooling, a 150m rooftop running track, communal roof terrace, a new landscaped public space and the ability to accommodate flexible occupation. The 293,000 sq ft mixed-use development includes a 237,000 sq ft office tower, where the first tenants are already in occupation. Tenants include Adobe, AKTII, BGL, Box.com, Capital One, Runpath, Spark44, The Office Group and Workshop Coffee. The tower forms part of a new urban campus with a further 56,000 sq ft of offices, studios, incubator space, restaurants and apartments, set around a new landscaped area of public realm, ‘Old Street Yard’.

The project is the latest iteration of an eight-year research initiative between and Derwent London and AHMM, which has also produced projects including Tea Building E1 and Stirling Prize-shortlisted Angel Building EC1. The White Collar Factory project was led by Simon Silver and Paul Williams, directors of Derwent London, and AHMM director Simon Allford, working in collaboration with engineering firms AKTII and Arup, and consultants AECOM and Jackson Coles.