camera press

Location: London
Client: Camera Press Ltd
Status: Completed 1993
Budget: £400,000

Headquarters, library and gallery
Camera Press is one of the UK’s top independent photography agencies.
They needed a new headquarters building that incorporated their offices, a vast archive library and the associated Tom Blau gallery.

Panter Hudspith Architects were appointed to carry out a feasibility study on a warehouse building and were then retained by Camera Press when they bought the building in 1992.

Prioritising limited financial resources 
In response to a very limited budget (£38/sq ft), it was decided to reuse the existing concrete frame and concentrate expenditure on articulating the building’s inherent character. The existing frame was therefore stripped back and cleaned. A system of untreated iroko panels was prefabricated and inserted into the frame, completing the building enclosure. 

Simple palette of complementary materials
is what gives the building its architectural quality, resulting from the straightforward expression of the re-used concrete frame and the timber detailing to facades and internal surfaces.

Publications
1993
The Architects' Journal - Updating old frames