Diespeker recently produced a number of unusual bespoke terrazzo worktops for Cre8 Joinery whose skills were called for at the marketing suite at the Fifty Fenchurch Street site.
The ‘island’ site is owned by The Clothworkers’ Company. The works will see the development of new workplace opportunities in the City of London and the site also includes a GI listed tower that will be open to the public.
The marketing suite at Fifty Fenchurch is a multipurpose space; it both tells the story of the historic site and provides a sense of what the development will offer.
There were three main objectives to consider for the design of the marketing suite:
- Spatial: to curate a clear, simple journey that leads people through the space.
- Experience: to provide a sense of the building and a clear understanding of the offer.
- Narrative: to tell stories that make people fall in love with life at Fifty Fenchurch Street.
Cre8 Joinery was tasked with manufacturing and installing all the bespoke joinery elements throughout the marketing suite. Two of the most striking elements are the presentation screen unit, one of the first things that visitors see, and the tea point/kitchen area. Both these elements feature stunning serpent-like Diespeker bespoke terrazzo worktops; two sizeable sections for the presentation unit and three for the kitchen area.
Diespeker was presented with a terrazzo design idea and asked to come up with a solution that gave a similar aesthetic. Our in-house ‘Rubblazzo’ which reuses waste materials to create a unique design, gave a good basis for this new terrazzo, which is a blend of three colourways of resin, white, beige and black.
Diespeker’s bespoke terrazzo expert Andy Brady oversaw the terrazzo production which, he says, was a painstaking process.
The terrazzo design at 20mm needed to be made in resin rather than cement, which would not have had integrity at this thickness. There was also a 100mm apron section at the front of the worktops to give the impression of a solid slab of stone and a waterfall leg on the end of one section.
Because there were three colourways in small sections, the process was meticulous and time-consuming. To start with, all three colours had to be laid at once, but, as resin hardens relatively quickly, the mix could only be made in small batches. Then there was the extra challenge of making the worktops, apron and waterfall leg appear seamless, which required precision work and a keen eye for detail.
The process of creating these unique worktops took around six days to complete, with two days to carefully lay the design in the moulds and four days to grind, polish and grout the sections.
It is worth noting that the aggregate for the design was a mixture of recycled sand, crushed bricks and blocks salvaged from building work in London, a sustainable use of waste materials.
The presentation screen unit carcase and door fronts and tea point/kitchen door fronts and floating shelf were built by Cre8 in oak veneer stained to match the client-specified Harlech Feathered Oak by Woodpecker Flooring.
The terrazzo is the finishing touch. Its highly unusual finish is eye-catching, and captures the spirit of combining contemporary and historic, which is key to the Fifty Fenchurch Street development.
Of Diespeker’s input, the Cre8 team said: “Overall, we are very pleased with how the project has shaped up and are keen to continue working with Diespeker on current and future projects.”
Imagery provided by Cre8