Dept W, Whitechapel

Buckley Gray Yeoman for Schroder Real Estate
Contract value: £12m 
GIA: 9,950m² 
Cost per m²: £1,206

Wickhams department store, near Whitechapel Crossrail station, has been reworked as an office and retail development. When it was built in the 1920s Spiegelhalter jewellers refused to relocate, resulting in a central gap in the irregular beaux-arts building. This is now the main entrance and focal point. The stonework facade has been repaired and retail units have rationalised awnings and fascias. Quirks are deliberately maintained against a neutral palette, allowing occupants to project their own identities while the fabric of the building becomes the main story.

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