HOK is a global architectural firm that specialises in planning, design and delivery solutions for buildings and communities. Their London office is rated LEED Gold, which in case you are unaware means that it is quite environmentally friendly, with only LEED Platinum being a higher rating. The London office is green to its core, beginning with the actual construction project. The company’s plentiful resources allowed it to become the first LEED Gold building in the United Kingdom. Designers selected low formaldehyde and low volatile-organic compounds when selecting the finishes, furniture, and carpet.

To add to that environmentally friendly build, the London branch also features a central patch of grass which is keenly used by the company’s employees to have lunch and just generally relax.  There’s even  a picnic table with a classic red-and-white checked tablecloth at one end, and  small trees interspersed throughout the building.

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Clive Wilkinson Architects are the Hollywood based team behind Macquarie Group’s Sydney office headquarters. The team has now completed their most recent brief from Macquarie, the creation of the new Macquarie London Office space. In case you didn’t know, Macquarie is a global player in banking and investment services, whose presence in London was previously scattered throughout several buildings in  London. They therefore recently decided to consolidate in the brand-new Ropemaker Place. Macquarie occupies 6 floors in the office building, which incidentally is LEED Platinum. The building itself was designed by Arup Associates.

The beautiful, open space is a triumph of simplicity. A skillful and meaningful use of bright colour, combined with the all-white inner structure gives the open plan a sense of delight and order.

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In this movie by Dezeen Linda Morey Smith talks about how she designed  London Office Space for Sony Music.  Linda Morey Smith is a very well known London Designer, she has designed many London Office spaces and is also one of the judges of the Inside awards. Though short, the video gives some great insight into the creative corridors behind Sony Music, one of the challenges described was how to create one amalgamated space while still accommodating around 15 different labels that belong to the Sony Music Group.

Inside awards: Linda Morey Smith from Dezeen on Vimeo.

If you’re looking for great office space London check out what eOffice has to offer.

The W Hotel has opened a new flagship hotel in London, it was opened on February 14 2011. The W London is the chain’s 40^th location and is based in the West End near Leicester Square. It will no doubt brining some design-led luxury to the heart of Soho.  The building is brand new, standing some 10 stories tall with 192 rooms. The facade is totally covered in translucent glass, with the very cool ability to change colour depending on the time of the day and the atmosphere within the area. The hotel is the epitome of modern design luxury, featuring a rooftop fitness facility with views across the West End and Soho. There is also the Spice Market restaurant, a signature restaurant by three-Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

W Hotel is the luxury brand of Starwood Hotels,  a conglomerate which is truly international. After the opening of the W Hotel London the conglomerate announced that it also plans to open six new hotels around the world, with locations including St. Petersburg, Bali, Paris and Guangzhou China.

The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel was officially opened on May 5 after undergoing extensive renovation to bring the building back to its former glory. The building was in such a bad state that it was almost torn down in 1960 and had to be closed due to health and safety concerns in the 80s.

The new St. Pancras Hotel couldn’t be further from its former dilapidated state. The redevelopment was spear-headed by the successful business man Harry Hadelsman who funded a large portion of the £200million redevelopment price tag through his property development company Manhattan Lofts Corporation. The project was undertaken in conjunction with Continental Railways and Marriott Hotels. The architects behind the project were Richard Griffiths Architects, who are known for their expertise in heritage projects. The interior design was by GA Design and several of the private apartments across the top floors were done by RHWL.

Wade Scaramucci is the lead architect of the new Angel Building office space in London, which was designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM). The building is on the corner of London’s Pentoville Road and St John Street, and has had a complete overhaul –  so much so that Scaramucci has been quoted as saying “I wouldn’t call it a refurbishment – it’s really more of a reinvention.” The old Angel Centre was a typical 1980s office space in London, a building which was very much disliked by the surrounding Londoners.

AHMM had two key ideas they wanted to implement for this dated office space in London. The first was to strip the building back to its concreate frame and extend towards the street. They also wanted to create a more seamless synergy between the inside and outside. The opening was therefore made into a promenade type area, from street to atrium. The office space looks great, modern, sleek and elegant.

According to property consultants London office space was over taken by Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive office space. Previously London’s West End was the leader in expensive office space.

Honk Kong's Business District

The average annual cost per workstation in 2010 for Hong Kong’s central districts went from $17,000 to $22,000, a massive increase of 31%! London Office space on the other hand, which took second place in 2010, had an occupancy cost of $20,000 per workstation – a meagre 4% increase from 2009. Third place was occupied by Geneva, whose annual rate went up by 12% hitting $18,000 in 2010.

The study was conducted by analyzing the cost of occupancy in 121 business districts in 47 countries, with occupancy costs calculated by taking into account rent, maintenance costs and taxes.

London's West End

If anything this study reinforces the exorbitant costs associated with prestigious central locations, and the difficulties that start-ups and small businesses face when trying to establish in these areas. This is especially the case as to create a business image that is professional and substantive often requires a central office location as a prerequisite. This is why at eOffice we stress the flexibility and affordability of both our serviced offices and virtual office solutions. They let businesses enjoy central city locations, yet without the high costs as seen above. What’s more with our eNetwork you can also get access to great services around the world, not just in London. For a full list of our locations please click here.

Azagury-Partridge, a completely self-taught Jeweler who launched her own jewellery line in the 90s, has recently opened a London flagship store.

She is known for her creative and innovative jewelery designs, having been quoted as saying:

“The advantages of being self-taught are that I have no preconceptions or received opinions about the rules of jewellery. Being an outsider is my raison d’être.”

The  new London flagship matches her creative sentiments, and is located in the suitably exclusive Bond Street area of central London. Fantastic features include a 600,000 Swarovski crystal adorned ceiling and plush red velvet. The whole store also has a “private members” feel, including areas with discreet enclaves and hidden doors. The store is clearly eccentric and exuberant, oozing that “rock-star” quality for which the label is  known!

[Picture via The Cool Hunter]

The Shop at Bluebird, a very prominent contemporary lifestyle store in Chelsea, is  now the first retail space for Lee Broom - one of the UK’s  most exciting young designers.

His “shop within a shop” showcases a variety of his furniture designs, which he is extremely well known for in the industry. Broom trained with Vivienne Westwood before graduating from Central St Martins, and has notable designs such as the One Light Only Collection, which was launched at last year’s London Design Festival, and his iconic neon chairs.

Apart from reaffirming him as one of Britain’s rising young designers , we will let his work do the rest of the talking!

A section of the Goldman Sachs  office space London  is up for sale for an estimated sum of £300m. The office space in London, which acts as their regional HQ, is located on Fleet Street. This central location is very close to the river Thames, and is therefore a highly sought after premises. The building was the former office space of The Telegraph, and was put into receivership when the owners (Jesta Capital) defaulted on their loans in 2010. The 370,000 sq ft chunk of prime real-estate is highly likely to attract foreign investors who are looking to invest in London while the British currency is relatively low.

A spokesperson from Jones Lang LaSalle’s City investment team, who are tasked with marketing the property, recently told Property Week that:

“London is a huge focus for real estate investors globally at the moment. In 2010 London was the largest commercial real estate market for investment activity globally, generating £10.8 billion of transactions, of which £7.3 billion was overseas money. The London market is probably the most liquid international property market at present and we expect Goldman’s HQ to appeal to a wide range of investors from the US, Middle East and Asia Pacific.”