Atrium opens new office and showroom space in Shoreditch

Having been situated near Tottenham Court Road since 1986, Atrium, the UK's longest established independent lighting distributor has opened its brand new office and showroom space in the heart of Shoreditch.

Atrium commissioned BDP to lead the design for the interiors, mechanical and electrical services as well as the lighting scheme.  Atrium has enjoyed a close working relationship with BDP and has worked with design director Mark Simpson for over 20 years. Set across 14,000 sq ft, Atrium’s new space is the UK’s largest commercial specification lighting showroom.

BDP was briefed on creating a space to not only accommodate over 40 staff and associated facilities such as a staff kitchen and client meeting spaces, but also to house the breadth of lighting products and solutions supplied by Atrium. Alongside the day-to-day activities, the showroom will also be used for a number of events and functions so BDP was also charged with creating a bar area for entertaining and a fifty seat seminar space to be used for talks and presentations.

The original space designed by AHMM lent itself well to the showroom design. Double height areas at both the front and rear of the building became useful for showcasing some of Flos’ larger lighting pieces and pendants. Much of the interior uses exposed raw concrete walls and columns which BDP decided to retain in the showroom and office design. Small details such as pencil marks and scribbles made by the builders have also been kept, adding character to the overall design of the showroom.

Atrium is the sole UK distributor for iconic Italian lighting brand Flos as well as German-based LTS and the Belgian lighting brand Modular. With this in mind BDP set about creating areas to display and celebrate the various capabilities and aesthetics of the lighting from each brand. Set on the lower ground floor, the showroom space houses the full range of Flos’ decorative lighting collection against an impressive ‘show-wall’. BDP’s Luke Smith-Wightman led the lighting design and also chose to create a series of ceiling rafts, which allow a subtle grouping of each brand's product and also hold space for new products to be added.

Atrium’s MD, Ulysse Dormoy commented “moving to Shoreditch was a natural progression for the business moving us into an area already well populated by the A&D community. The AHMM designed building provided the perfect shell for BDP’s interior scheme, resulting in a truly exceptional space in terms of a high end working office and showroom, the end result speaks for itself”.