38 Northampton Road, Finsbury, London



Architect
Ben Adams, Julia Hamson & Patrick Hammond
Date Built
Completed October 2015
Location
38 Northampton Road
Description
This building, that sweeps around the elbow of Northampton Road, is home to the internationsl furniture designers "Orange".  The architects say that, "... The main brick elevations refer to the varied local warehouses and frame a rhythmic composition of two and a half storey high windows. The building form achieves clarity despite complexity balancing the constraints imposed by being next to a listed building in the St Paul’s viewing corridor, rights-to-light issues and local conservation area concerns.  .... A shaded courtyard defines the building entrance, set back to enclose an existing tree and offers a moment of repose before entering. Concrete floor slabs are exposed and rake back dramatically to reveal a lower ground floor. Each floor of the building has a different plan dictated by the building form, and connected by a sculptural helical stair that winds through the centre of each space. A series of voluminous and interconnected spaces culminate in roof terraces designed by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, which offer large outside spaces and impressive views."



On a window near the entrance is the quotation, "You don't move to where the ball is, you move to where the ball is going."  This comes from the book "The Future Ain't What it Used to Be" by Larry Samuel.  The full quote is "Spotting trends is like being an outfielder. You don't move to where the ball is, you move to where the ball is going."  Presumably, a design centre's stock-in-trade is spotting trends.