Architects Studio RHE has gained planning permission for the remodelling for the second phase of work space known as Capstan House and the public realm at Republic, East India Dock.
Built in 1993, Republic is a 600,000 square feet office development with retail and leisure amenities situated on a prominent 6.4-acre island site in the London Docklands. Working with Trilogy Property and LaSalle Investment Management, Studio RHE is currently transforming the 1990s post-modern office complex at East India Dock into a destination work campus for the co-working, cultural and tech sectors.
The first phase of work on the Anchorage House site started on-site in October 2016, and is expected to complete in Autumn 2017. This phase of work sees the building updated with the re-cladding and extension of the facades at ground and first floors, creating a modern aesthetic to house retail units, bars and cafes with extensive outdoor terraces.
Republic, East India Dock © Studio RHE
For the second phase of work, Studio RHE has gained planning permission for the refurbishment of Capstan House which sits adjacent to Anchorage House. The refurbishment will provide a range of workspace sizes including small units for start-ups and young businesses, as well as a new ground level facade which will open the building to the street to create a transparent, active frontage mirroring that of Anchorage House.
At the heart of the building will be a working atrium with informal meeting spaces and collaborative work zones. The new atrium will be animated with the insertion of break-out spaces opening on to the atrium at each floor. The atrium has been extended to the dedicated co-working space at the basement floor to increase levels of daylight and to provide a direct link from the underground bike storage and changing facilities.
Public realm works including the creation of pedestrianised out-door space for working and socialising, as well as landscaping work which will introduce native land and water-based plants designed to increase bio-diversity to the site, have also been given the green light.
Republic, East India Dock © Studio RHE
Completing in phases over the next five years, the workspace at Republic, East India Dock is expected to compete on price with key locations in the South East and major UK regional centres, coming in at half the price of current occupational costs in Shoreditch and just one third of the West End.
Republic, East India Dock © Studio RHE
Once complete, the campus will eventually provide 650,000 sq ft of low-cost high-quality affordable workplace, a wide range of amenities, generous public realm and extensive green spaces around the existing lake.
Richard Hywel Evans, Director of Studio RHE, commented: “Republic is looking to redefine the entire campus as the ‘workplace of the future’ and the new building and public realm goes a long way to proving the concept is quickly becoming a reality,”
Robert Wolstenholme, Director, Trilogy Property added: “Republic is changing the landscape of the area and delivering a place which will attract the innovative, independently minded people and businesses of the future. At Trilogy, we are delighted to be working with Studio RHE again, after the success we had together on Alphabeta. As our first building comes to life we believe we have taken a significant step forward in creating the next benchmark “post Shoreditch” workplace. Buildings set within a highly sustainable amenity rich environment, occupied by a diverse community of creative businesses all at an occupational cost around half of Shoreditch and the other creative clusters of London.”
Designed to appeal to the next generation of creative and tech businesses, Republic will create an attractive work and leisure environment, becoming a new neighbourhood in this previously overlooked corner of London’s Docklands.
