Exploring London's Alphabeta Building
Rising above the green carpet of Finsbury Square, is an early 20th century structure that you’d be forgiven for thinking was built only a few years ago. The classical appearance of the Alphabeta Building disappeared a few years ago after a remarkable transformation to emerge as this reimagined structure. Today it exists as a set of dynamic and high-quality, fitted-out office units that have won awards for their design and functionality.
Alongside its innovative design, the building has lots of amenities intended to enhance the work-life balance of its occupants. These occupants include companies operating in media, like The Evening Standard, technology, and finance. And there are basketball and squash facilities, a yoga studio, and roof terraces to bring people from all these sectors together. Among the Alphabeta Building’s many unique features, its dedicated ramp for cyclists makes it London's first cycle-in office.
Triton Court: The History of the Alphabeta Building
The Alphabeta Building, formerly known as Triton Court, was a set of three buildings built between 1910 and 1930—Mercury, Jupiter, and Neptune Houses. Topped with the God Mercury, for financial profitability, these buildings, set around a towering central atrium, had been combined to form Triton Court in 1980. They were also located in a strategic area between Shoreditch and the City of London, the capital’s financial district, setting Studio Rhe up perfectly, for their Alphabeta vision.
Studio Rhe's Alphabeta Building Project
Over the years, Triton Court underwent significant renovations, with a major refurbishment in 1984. More recently in an effort to update Triton Court and create a dynamic—but essentially, more modern—workspace, Studio Rhe organised the Alphabeta project.
In the summer of 2011, Studio RHE, long-time residents of Shoreditch, were tasked with reimagining Triton Court for the 21st century. This transformation, carried out in 2013, involved the complete renovation of 220,000 sq ft of existing buildings. With an additional 22,000 sq ft of A1 retail and restaurant space on the ground and basement floors. It cost a grand total of £36 million.
Inside the Alphabeta Building
One of the major new aspects of the refurbishment was the creation of a direct route through the building, connecting Worship Street to Finsbury Square and encouraging movement between the two areas.
Fostering social interaction across the building’s diverse occupants, the Alphabeta’s impressive foyer soars nine-stories to an all-glass roof, flooding the area with natural light. Transparent meeting rooms protrude over this central atrium, symbolising transparency and openness. As well as these meeting rooms the building has private studios and workspaces.
On the roof are communal patios with decking and plant life, offering views of London’s skyline as well as the buildings historic statues and iconic stone tower. In the basement there are dedicated bicycle parking facilities, which can be accessed via a glass ramp, at the Worship Street entrance.
The ground floor has a library, restaurants, bars, coffee areas, and the aforementioned basketball court, so workers across the offices can interact and get to know each other. There are also a range of cultural and well-being events held in its auditorium, to promote worker-happiness.
Awards for the Alphabeta Building
In 2016, the Alphabeta Building received prestigious design awards from organisations such as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the British Council for Offices, and the Office Agents Society.
The awards were given in recognition of Studio Rhe's groundbreaking design, inspiring new office constructs across London. Leaning into collaboration and enhancing sustainable practices that also promote a better experience for workers is clearly highly beneficial!
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