Just as you can walk into any Starbucks in London or Istanbul or Calcutta and know what your Starbucks coffee will taste like, you can walk into any business district in any part of the world and know what an office building will look like. It will be big, air-conditioned, made of glass and steel and, most likely, be surrounded by other big, air-conditioned, glass and steel buildings.
Similarly nondescript apartment buildings appear across the world with little clue as to the location. Perhaps an air conditioning unit on a balcony indicates a warm climate. Beyond that, you can gaze up at these buildings and have no idea where in the world you are.
These cookie-cutter buildings may provide adequate housing or places to work but rarely do they fully take into account the local needs, customs or the environment.
There are good things about global uniformity in buildings – improved fire regulations, air circulation, daylight standards. Over the last few decades, in many places, a shiny new office building signified economic progress and therefore instilled a sense of pride and aspiration.
However, by building average, imitation buildings we risk building average, imitation cities. As so eloquently described by Vishaan Chakrabarti in his Ted Talk, hundreds of thousands of people are moving into cities across the world every day. Therefore the quality of our cities determines the quality of the future of humanity. If our cities become bland and homogenised so may we.
How can Craft Beer and Artisan Coffee help us?
Today’s glass and steel office buildings are akin to the mass-produced consumer goods that reigned in the 20th Century. In our household consumables we sought familiarity and found it in brand. This repetitive commodification extended to the design and production of buildings.
However, today in our consumer goods we search for the new, the independent, the undiscovered. Coffee drinkers relish locally roasted coffee beans, lovingly ground by a latte artiste. Beer drinkers seek out unpasteurised ales brewed down the road. We are fatigued by big corporate machines that churn out a one-size-fits-all product.
This has resulted in the surge of entrepreneurship, creativity and disruption that has defined the last decade. Technology has broken down the barriers to entry, making it easier to challenge the status quo and respond to the consumer’s needs. Finally it is time to expect the same from our real estate developments.
Two modern buildings which break the mould and respond to their environments are 30 Broadwick Street and 40 Beak Street, both located in London’s Soho, one of London’s most idiosyncratic areas. The developers, GPE and Enstar Capital, have created thoroughly modern buildings which respond to their surroundings in a way which is neither pastiche nor jarring.
They have retained the charm of Soho whilst propelling the area forward. We know that cities that stagnate, die and these buildings will ensure that Soho continues to draw talent, industry and creativity and therefore thrive.
Copyright @ GPE
Some argue that this is wishful thinking as, if a building doesn’t make a profit, it won’t get built. The received wisdom indicates that, to make money in property development, you must build cheaply and quickly hence the dominance of thoughtless, poorly design and cheaply built buildings.
However, 30 Broadwick Street was sold in 2018 for over £2,000 per square foot, a level never before seen in Soho for a property of this size (£190m). This record was swiftly overtaken by 40 Beak Street which was sold for c.£2,150 per square foot to Damien Hirst. Thus proving that a more thoughtful, independent approach can indeed make money. And serious money at that.
So, what can real estate learn from Craft Beer and Artisan Coffee? We can learn that creating one-size-fits-all buildings will no longer satisfy the consumer, the occupier. If we learn to look to the local environment, materials and building techniques and combine these with modern technology we will make extraordinary places, timeless places, places where humanity will thrive.
Copyright @ Stiff & Trevillion
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