Photography Studio for Juergen Teller
London

A new office, studio and archive store for the photographer, Juergen Teller on a 60m long by 8m wide site that had been a builder's offices. There are three buildings linked by two courtyards, offices on the street frontage, photography studio between the courtyards and at the rear a building with a kitchen and other private support spaces.

The structure is exposed reinforced concrete floor and roof slabs supported on the fair-faced concrete blockwork inner leaf of a cavity wall with a highly insulated cavity and a board-marked concrete outer leaf.

After discussions between the design team, and experience from trials, self-compacting concrete was chosen for the superstructure. The different formwork finishes include: 75mm-wide rough sawn Douglas fir board externally, with each board prepared by hand on-site, roughened with a wire brush, and pre-treated with a cement wash; and MDO phenolic ply internally, producing a matt concrete surface.

The most daring structure is the central column-free studio, with northlight rooflights supported by 100mm slender in-situ beams to diffuse light into the space, and full-width glazing at each end giving views onto each courtyard. The only elements providing lateral stability are two slender concrete staircases, designed as diagonal push-pull props; this design contributes greatly to the elegance of the building. The stairs make a positive contribution to the structure, rather than being a weight to be supported as often viewed by structural engineers, with their heavily reinforced top and bottom connections concealed within the concrete profile.

Completed 2016.

Project Information

Client

Juergen Teller

Architect

6a architects

Value

£2.5m

Photography

Johan Dehlin

Jim Stephenson

Awards

RIBA Award 2017
RIBA London Award 2017
RIBA London Building of the Year Award 2017
Stirling Prize Shortlist 2017

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