The Hoover Building

The refurbishment and extension to the iconic Grade II* listed Art Deco Hoover Building in Ealing.

Client

IDM Properties
Architect

Interrobang
Photography

Morley von Sternberg
Value

£10m
Completion

2018

The Hoover Building has taken on many roles over its 86-year lifespan, including a wartime factory, a commercial supermarket, and an office block. Our renovation of the historic building opened its latest chapter as a residential building accommodating 66 homes. The transformation involved the comprehensive repair of the façade, and the introduction of a timber structure to create new homes, while minimising the impact on the existing building.

Webb Yates was originally engaged as the structural engineer on the scheme to convert the building to residential accommodation by adding additional levels while staying within the wider building envelope. In order to achieve this, the existing and proposed loads were carefully balanced with a timber framed solution designed to shift the additional weight to locations that could support it. Various prefabricated timber trusses hidden in walls were used to either support or hang the new floors and roof, this means that the new walls could be simply lifted in and stacked on top of each other forming the structure and partitions together. When the scheme changed to increase the number of units, cooperation between the engineering and architectural design was crucial due to all the structure embedded within the internal walls.

The end project restores the building and provides new homes within the existing fabric, acknowledging the need for more housing in our capital. This demanded a meticulous analysis and detailed understanding of the existing structure — a reinforced concrete beam and thin slab construction with very little spare capacity. The insertion of new prefabricated timber trusses within partitions transfers additional load to the existing concrete frame, maximising the limited space available and avoiding costly, time-consuming and carbon-intensive strengthening of the existing foundations and superstructure. The prefabricated timber trusses and roof cassettes were sustainably sourced, built off-site and lifted into place to minimise the building’s exposure to the elements.

The renovation was designed to meet and exceed carbon reduction targets set out in the London Borough of Ealing’s planning requirements. Our approach centred on the re-use of the existing fabric, minimising alteration and material use as far as possible. Subsequently, the design achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, and took home a BREEAM Award in 2019.