Leading flexible workspace specialist x+why has bucked the pandemic driven, working from home trend, by successfully opening two new London workspaces; Huguenot Place in Spitalfields and The Fulwood in Midtown.
The landlord for both buildings is The Courtenay Group, with whom x+why has secured innovative management agreements which, amongst other benefits, have allowed the landlord to become income generating more quickly than on a traditional basis. The interior department of leading architecture practice Squire & Partners were used on both sites to deliver the same x+why signature industrious, cool and comfortable environment that they successfully rolled out at x+why’s first project at People’s Mission Hall in Whitechapel.
Huguenot Place is strategically located near the City, the space has been cleverly designed to reflect and celebrate the historic association of the site with the silk industry, which was one of London’s largest industries and dominated Spitalfields and Brick Lane throughout the eighteenth century. The space provides mainly managed workspaces as well as a shared club space for co-working and larger meetings.
Maria Cheung, Director of Interior Design at Squire & Partner comments: “Huguenot Place is a site steeped in rich history, and we relished the story that came with its name and the building. It provided the perfect platform to create an interiors concept that nodded to the silk trade and the Huguenot silk weavers. We achieved this through using rich, deep colours on the walls, intricate patterns on rugs and adapted spools into light fittings. In the club space, a bespoke silk wall hanging made by French artist Noémie Lacroix using historical techniques has a contemporary design and brings a sense of movement to the space.
“The courtyard at Huguenot Place is a delightful and unexpected space to be tucked away off Brick Lane. Extravagant planting on the walls and hanging from the walkways was chosen to enhance this, creating a little oasis within the city.”
Since opening during the pandemic, the building has fast become a mini tech-hub securing tenants such as prop-tech giant Goodlord and insure-tech company FloodFlash. Tom Mundy, CEO of Goodlord comments: “We love our space at Huguenot Place, predominantly because we were able to design it to suit our needs and will continue to do so as we flex and grow. The team have been first-rate and a pleasure to work with.”
In the heart of midtown, The Fulwood, is tucked away in a private mews next to the beautiful Gray’s Inn Gardens. The Fulwood is a Grade A, 14,000 sq ft office space with new air conditioned offices, flooded with natural light, low energy LED feature lighting, superfast WiFi, conferencing facilities and 24/7 access. Designed post-pandemic work practices in mind, zoom booths have been dotted around the building ready to provide perfect lighting and acoustics to those increasingly regular video calls as well as a range of tech enabled flexible meeting rooms and a larger convening space.
Maria Cheung, from Squire & Partners explains: “The Fulwood is a really exciting project for us, as the third x+why that Squire & Partners have worked on and the first sited away from East London. We wanted to acknowledge that we were designing for ‘uptown’ and potentially more varied end users, whilst ensuring that we retained the aesthetic that lies at the heart of x+why spaces.
“With ways of working shifting, considerations of life in the office post-pandemic were incorporated into the design. Tenants have a variety of working environments to suit them, including banquette seating with timber dividers that demarcate individual working areas, and larger tables that offer group touch-down working. A range of different meeting room styles accommodate a variety of modes of meeting and collaborating. From relaxed seating around video conferencing, to flexible space that caters for ad-hoc meetings and groups small or large, the spaces veer away from the classic conference room to create an informal lounge environment.”
Since opening the doors to The Fulwood last month, x+why have already signed 55% of the building, including the award winning, planet saving, B Corp certified Toast Ale and digital marketing agency Catalysis.
Rupert Dean, co-founder of x+why comments: “This space expands the geography and size of our London offerings and helps place us among the fastest growing flexible-work space specialist in the UK – a feat we are particularly proud to have achieved during a global pandemic and proving market confidence in our forward-thinking model.”
Rob Wilson, CEO and Founder of Toast Ale says: “Purpose is at the heart of what we do, and so when looking for a new office space, x+why were a natural fit. Their sustainability credentials and ethos are an obvious draw, but we are particularly excited by being surrounded by like-minded businesses and entrepreneurs.”
Across all their spaces, beyond the standard member benefits of lightning-fast internet, changing rooms with showers, fun break out areas and well-stocked honesty bars x+why offer a cultural programme of purpose related events and workshops including the exclusive Why B Programme. The programme forms part of x+why’s mission to change the way the world works for good by supporting a community of purpose driven companies to advance people and the planet as well as making a profit.
Rupert Dean comments: “All our spaces are designed and operated in as sustainable a way as possible – from the supply chain for our fit outs, to the way waste is collected and recycled. The spaces are aimed at any organisation who is committed to a more impactful and positive way of working, whether they be a business, social enterprise or charity.”
