Surface Architects’ complex designs for the new Centre for Research in Film and Visual Media at Birkbeck College, University of London, were a challenge that few fit out companies would even aspire to. In what has been described as one of the most demanding projects ever achieved in the sector, fit out specialists Vivid Interiors successfully transformed the designers’ bold projections into reality to create a stunning, inspirational environment for Birkbeck’s internationally-renowned School of History of Art, Film and Visual Media.
The extensive programme of works involved the refurbishment of existing meeting and seminar rooms within the basement and ground floor of the Grade II listed Georgian terraced building in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, central London, and the internal fit out of a double-height rear extension including the creation of a mezzanine floor and break-out space. The £1 million-plus project also involved the fit out of a 70-seat state-of-the-art cinema and multimedia auditorium housing a 4.5m x 2.7m screen.
“By far the biggest challenge of the refurbishment was communicating the design’s complex drawings to the subcontractors working on the extension,” says Sean Wells, project manager for Vivid Interiors. “Every member of the team had to understand how the design fitted together, and how their work related to other areas of the scheme. The job required absolute attention to detail and there was no margin for error.”
From flat plan to 3D reality
“The complex design for the extension is in effect, an interlocking series of coloured zones,” says Sean. The key to the design is a single point in the building’s basement with all angles for walls, floors and ceilings in the extension deriving from this original setting out point. To break this down for the subcontractor workforce, Sean took the overall design and mapped it on to a grid system in order to create clearer visuals for specific areas. These were given to each trade to work on. Sean and his site manager also set out where the walls and end points should be with lengths of string. This allowed the trade contractors to understand how the measurements and fixtures for each room emanated from a single point and visualise how they all fitted together. He also created a three-dimensional model showing how each section interlocked.
“There were no fixed heights to any of the ceilings and every room had its own unique shape, so even the most straightforward jobs were a real challenge,” says Sean. “The building didn’t have any of the conventional straight lines which delineate new builds. The walls meet at acute/obtuse angles and feature fabric-covered panels which protrude from ceilings and walls to form acute points and three-dimensional features.” Because of the complex shapes involved, the frames of the different ‘spaces’ which make up the extension were pre-fabricated off site then craned in through the roof of the building. Solid 80mm structural timber panels were then attached followed by plasterboard and fabric covered panels.
Custom made
All the windows for the project also had to be custom made because of their unconventional shape. One of the most challenging to install was the tilted picture window that fronts the break out space and overlooks Gordon Square. Weighing half a tonne, the 4m x 3m trapezium-shaped window had to be craned into position and was structurally bonded into the wall, without the use of beading or a frame.
Another stand-out feature is the 20m long polished stainless steel handrail which reaches from the basement lobby to the breakout space on the ground floor beside the cinema. As it winds round the building and crosses two floors and the mezzanine level, the handrail is recessed into walls rather than being fixed flush. Instead of ending at a fixed point, it simply ‘disappears’ into a wall.

Email: ceri.hayzer@vividinteriors.com