Hailo at Somerset House   City of Westminster, London

SAM Architects were appointed by Hailo, a rapidly expanding  mobile app startup, to design their new head office in London. The design combines the historic setting of Somerset House with a sense of contemporary London, as a hub for style, culture and art through the reinterpretation of daily objects and collaboration with local artists and the use of locally sourced furniture.

Reflecting on the ideal working environment of today the design proposes a versatile and nearly domestic office environment in an historic space. In order to enhance the communication and the movement across the floor plate the corridor becomes the central space by the insertion of five bespoke arches. In contrast to the formal meeting rooms, the arches are designed as informal break-out spaces. They are fitted out by Hannah Stanton, a London based designer and sit alongside the works of Vic Lee, who created six murals of varying sizes picking up on themes around travel, cabs, London and freedom, and Claire Brewster, who creates bird sculptures from historical maps complementing the installation.

No. 88 John Trundle Court   Barbican, City of London

SAM Architects has completed a full refurbishment of a studio flat in the Barbican into a bespoke compact-living arrangement. The brief for the project focussed on the owners  need to create a lot of additional storage to house their large collection of books and clothes.

The existing layout has been reimagined to introduce a bespoke, cantilevered unit which has been inserted in the centre of the space to subtly organise the surrounding functions. Translucent curtains create further flexibility by dividing the space for different activities. The design language has been kept consistent throughout,  using a restrained material and colour palettes. Traces of the existing are then woven into the new design such as the mahogany linings of the joinery  which reference the original full height, mahogany framed windows.