Federated House

Federated House

Cavendish Wells wanted to look at the potential of converting a disused office building in Dorking into a modern residential tower. The existing building was constructed in 1950s, offering 36,000 sq ft of open plan office space. The building consists of a central five storey cruciform building (ground to fourh floors) with two further floors for plant positioned over a single central core, linking all floors. Our proposal aimed to preserve as much of the original building fabric as possible, to achieve a highly sustainable performance. Each floor can accommodate 12 apartments, a mix of one- and two-bedrooms and each accessed from the central core via short corridors. Each apartment was designed to be open plan, with an internal depth of less than nine metres. This meant it was possible to remove the need for entrance lobbies and helped maximise the usable space. The overall finishes were to be of the highest quality, offering first time buyers a modern residence in a well-connected part of south west London.