The Pepper Store, Devonshire Square, London EC2

Client: Blackstone

The Pepper Store at Devonshire Square is a Grade II Listed, converted East India Company warehouse dating back to the 18th Century. Following its conversion to offices and retail in the 1980s, JRA introduced designs to bring the building up to modern tenant standards whilst making sensitive use of the original heritage features. Key improvements to the scheme include a redesign of the reception and office floors, reorganisation of the cores, strip back to reveal original concrete soffit and steel trusses and addition of exposed services to the ceiling.

The Pepper Store forms part of the Devonshire Square Estate set in the eastern edge of the City of London which comprises a combination of Grade II Listed and 1980’s office buildings. JRA is working on the improvement of the public realm and the refurbishment of several buildings in the estate for Blackstone to deliver a destination workplace with benchmark estate facilities. The quality of the scheme has been recognised at the Architects’ Journal Retrofit Awards 2017 where The Pepper Store was a finalist.

Several environmental and sustainable measures were introduced to the design particularly relating to the services strategy and improved thermal performance. An improved MEP plant, upgrade to the roof insulation, new double glazed windows and improvements to the building fabric and air tightness have contributed to a better performing building. These measures all led to the building achieving BREEAM ‘Excellent’.