Holloway Li brings 1970s domesticity to this London creative agency

Photography: Felix Speller

Re-envisioned by local design consultancy Holloway Li, multi-disciplinary creative agency Mother has received a new Shoreditch headquarters with an invitingly retro aesthetic. Flexibility and a focus on third places were also key to Holloway Li’s design brief, and as a result, the studio conceived a multipurpose space that seamlessly transitions from an open, collaborative office to a lunch hall and finally to a multi-use gallery space.

Also key to the design concept was the introduction of a warm, welcoming touch of domesticity, especially throughout the shared common areas. To achieve this more intimate, residential feel, the studio furnished the office mezzanine with orange and pink T4 sofa modules designed by Holloway Li and manufacturing partner UMA, as well as bespoke red coffee tables also by Holloway Li. These furnishings join the “Wall of Mothers,” a homely, almost cluttered gallery wall containing real portraits of every employee’s own mother. The result is a colourful, unique communal space reminiscent of 1970s conversation pits, aided by the era’s instantly recognisable shade of faded orange and the large, modular sofas gathered around low coffee tables.

Tasked with accommodating free breakfasts and lunches for over 300 employees per day, a key focal point of the project was a flexible, open-plan dining area that could serve various functions. Once a somewhat disjointed farmhouse kitchen, two streamlined stainless-steel islands with forest green cabinets now direct foot traffic from shared full-performance cooking appliances and coffee machines to abundant communal seating, provided by Mother’s iconic red dining benches (crafted with glossy, lightweight fibreglass).

Before visitors and staff alike enter the mezzanine area or the gallery/event space, they are met with a glowing warmth emanating from the statement reception desk. The stainless-steel structure of the existing reception table was kept and later encased in a translucent fascia (also crafted from fibreglass), which allows the bespoke, 13-ft monolithic desk to cast a glow and soften otherwise industrial features including the exposed concrete floors. This dramatic impact is aided by a tall backdrop of rich red curtains, which themselves are contrasted by a pair of stark unshaded lightbulbs, for an entrance altogether in keeping with Mother’s creative ethos.