New Bond Street Entrance

This elegant corner building was built in 1910 and is characterised by its buff stone finish, generous window openings and flourishes of stone decoration.

The new entrance features bespoke marble tiles which incorporate a chain of ‘Fritillaria imperialis’, inspired by the original stone flower motif from the façade of the building.

The tiles form a surround to the doorway and extend into the entrance lobby creating a highly charged arrival space and leading visitors from the street to the offices above. The dark tiles contrast with the lighter Portland stone of the exterior and the white of the staircore beyond.

The glazed front door features a bespoke push plate, which is engraved with a smaller version of the motif. The textured surface pattern will gradually darken with use.

Inside the lobby space, practical requirements such as postboxes, fire panel, plant access, heaters and light fittings are organized and concealed within a black timber portal.

Developing the tiles:

Photographs of the original flower motif were taken along with hand-drawn sketches. From these we look at ways to re-interpret the flowers in tile form, capturing their essence but also creating something new.

We began by prototyping a clay tile in relief to test the concept. It was decided to work with marble as this would provide the durability required on the public highway and also make each tile unique, giving the space an intensity and richness that would not be achievable with a monotone material or standard tile.

A three-dimensional CAD model was created from our rough models and developed with STF London through a number of iterations, testing various milling tools, marble types and finishes. The final tiles are milled from Nero Marquina marble.