Cottam House: Historic building retrofitted by tech accelerator

The Regent Quarter is a two-block 20-building mixed-use estate to the east of King’s Cross station, currently under development by Endurance Land. This corner of London has survived several destructive redevelopment processes.  

Its vibrant blend of historic and modern architecture, and its functional and thriving community are a big draw for tech companies; Google are building a new HQ nearby.  

The retrofit of Cottam House was the first phase of Endurance Land redevelopment plan for the Regent Quarter. Bar Gazetas and Untold Interiors were retained to repurpose a nearly 200- year-old building for use as a design-led workspace appropriate for coworking, research and experimentation.  

Jon Eaglesham, Managing Director at Barr Gazetas, said, “To be selected as the architects in charge of the first historic refurbishment project in the Regent Quarter masterplan was a great privilege and challenge set by Endurance Land. We are thrilled with the results; the historic fabric has been revealed, the contemporary materials inserted complement the more industrial finishes and play with light, shadows and views. It’s a generously light place to work.”  

Cottam House sits at the corner of Railway Street and York Way, and the earliest recorded use of the site in a map from 1800, is as a mustard mill. A Blue Maker acquired the mill in the 1830s; Stone blue was an indigo vegetable dye, which was ground and mixed with starch to make a laundry whitener. There are also records of an enterprise that made an early type of fibreglass cloth for use in greenhouses.  

Cottam House is now occupied by The Mills Fabrica, a subsidiary of the Nan Fung Group which was itself originally a cotton yarn company. Cottam House continues its association with textile technology and agriculture; The Mills Fabrica operates as an accelerator, investor and experimental space for companies working in these areas. 

We were given a tour of the facility by Amy Tsang, the Senior Operations Manager at The Mills Fabrica. She explained that The Mills Fabrica was a strategic arm of the Nan Fung Group interested in supporting innovation within the ‘techstyle’ and ‘agritech’ sectors, with a specific focus on addressing issues of sustainability.  

“The fashion industry is one of the most polluting and damaging on a global scale, so that was something we wanted to tackle. We discovered there was a lot of amazing innovation that can have a positive impact on the fashion industry across the supply chain; from production, to manufacturing, to influencing consumer mindsets. We also found a lot of innovation in agricultural technology, particularly in the UK and Europe, and the two sectors overlap and align well.  

“For example, we work with a company called Renewcell. They take old clothes that would end up in landfill and recycle them into a new biodegradable raw material Circulose® pulp. They then supply this material to brands to make into clothes, encouraging true circularity in the sector.  

“The process reduces reliance on virgin cotton, timber, oil, uses less water, fewer chemicals, and reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  

“Another company based here is Supplant, who take agricultural waste such as corn husks and create natural sugars that are prebiotic and lower in calories than cane sugar. This addresses the overreliance of the food industry on harmful sugars that cause all sorts of preventable diseases.  

“Colorifix engineer bacteria to produce and grow colour pigment for the fashion industry, eliminating toxic chemicals and excessive water usage, which are huge problems for the dyeing industry. They identify something in nature, for example, the red feather of a parrot, and they use DNA sequencing to identify the exact genetic code that gives that specific red. Then they encode, or teach bacteria to grow that red; then they multiply it to create dyes.  

“These are only a few of the projects that we’re supporting at Cottam House. We’re curating a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and individuals within fashion, sustainability, food and agritech. Other coworking spaces are sector agnostic, but here we are creating an ecosystem where people can bounce ideas off each other and collaborate.” 

The building’s lobby occupies the old vehicular entrance to the works yard behind. Where carriages once trundled, glass brick walls and black metal framed doors now welcome light and visitors into the space. The natural light supports vertical farming units which are harvested by the ground floor café.  

Samantha Liu and Annabel Hickton from Untold Interiors explained their work. “We were brought in to do the overall concept, interior architecture, the material palette, key FF&E pieces, and final dressing of the project.  

“Nan Fung Group started out as a thread producer for the fabric industry in Hong Kong. As they grew, they repurposed the original Hong Kong factory into an incubation space for lifestyle, technology, and sustainable companies. 

“They wanted to keep this blend of old and new in their London offices but with a little more refinement and sophistication. We were keen to retain the industrial features of the space while bringing in the new, like the glass blocks and the Crittall – glass brick with black metal is the feature look for the Hong Kong offices – so we incorporated these design features into the entrance.  

“Sustainability is a core concern of ours as an interior design practice, so we were delighted to be able to salvage some of the parquet flooring we found in the space. We used a sustainable terrazzo, supplied by Solus, on the floor and walls to enhance the historic fabric of the building.”  

Sam and Annabel worked with Charlotte Kidger, a British sustainable designer, who provided side tables located around the building made from polyurethane foam dust, moulded into shape. These remarkable objects appear friable and delicate, but are hard and durable; formed into columnlike shapes, they could be artefacts of a ruined civilisation – a warning, perhaps?  

Untold Interiors also commissioned Dirk van der Kooij to design two bespoke 4.5m tables made from melted down plastic. These vast surfaces have an uncannily organic feel, and have become focal points for interactions on the upper workspace floors. 

Also commissioned by Untold Interiors are some large wall panels made from biomaterial that tesselate in rich purples and soft creams. The material, Totomoxtle, is made from heirloom corn husks grown by the community of Tonahuixtla, a small village of Mixtec farmers and herders in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The creator, Fernando Laposse, is a London based Mexican designer who specialises in transforming humble natural materials into refined design pieces.  

The upper floors maintain natural light with the help of Crittall partitions; another call back to Britain’s light-industrial past as Crittall was founded in 1889. The exposed brickwork and pinioned roof space have been lovingly restored, as have the original Victorian window frames.  

The design is superb. The translucent partitioning permits a variety of space combinations while allowing light to pass, overcoming the limitations of the historic, yet small windows.  

Form and function are aligned harmoniously, and artistic flourishes elevate the space and stimulate the occupants. One can imagine the positive effect this space will have upon the innovators, entrepreneurs and inventors within. 

Architecture: Barr Gazetas

Interior Design: Untold Interiors

Tiling Contractor: Trainor Stone

Solus Sales Manager: Pete Toule

Photography: Philip Vile

Tiles used in this project: Murgese 7BAB011, Terrazzo range, Doran 2VXT101, Gritstone range