How Matter found a unique and inspiring new home in the Design District
Christina Hsieh tells us why Bureau, in London’s brand-new Design District, is the perfect home for Matter.
I want Matter to be different.
I want employees to feel encouraged and safe. To be who they are. When I hire an engineer, I ask, ‘what are you interested in? What would you like to do in three years?’ We find the things they enjoy that also benefit the company.
We don't intend to have everyone work the same way – that’s what keeps it fun. We appreciate the individuality and uniqueness of all human beings.
I always wanted to have a studio.
I wanted a place for mentoring – a gathering place for people to meet up and learn from each other. I came across the Design District by accident. I was walking around after a site visit and thought it looked very interesting.
Next to my studio is a building I designed that won two industry awards - Ravensbourne University London. It’s one of a kind. When I took a tour recently, the students found out I was the designer and had lots of questions. It was great to meet the organisers and they were happy to hear that we're now neighbours!
I chose this studio because of Bureau’s ethos.
Bureau has 16 buildings, some rented to more prominent companies and some small businesses and freelancers. They want to support creativity and create a system where the bigger companies support the smaller ones.
That’s how I run my company as well. 20% of my projects are community-based, but I can only sustain that because of the profit made on commercial projects.
Everything is agile and inclusive.
Everybody knows everybody. When the office management team shows architects around, they introduce me. They want to connect people and make businesses more successful.
It's a new place, and everybody wants to improve things – which is what I’m trying to do with my company. Every three months there’s a party where we can meet our neighbours and help each other. The whole place is dog friendly. I plan to bring my dog Momo here so that she can make friends too.
Our building has a wavy shape and massive windows.
It’s a place I can focus and work. I have desks for three people, but I’ve managed to use all the desk space myself! Even though my studio has a wall, people can see in. I’ve got used to it now, and every time a neighbour passes, we can say hello.
I use my studio as a sanctuary.
The building is spacious and quiet, with phone booths, a meeting area, a lounge area, a restaurant and a cafe. There are lots of people around, but it doesn’t feel crowded. And it's made from concrete, so the insulation is quite good.
Last week I had my first visit from a colleague. We sat outside, ate lunch in the shade and had a chat. We’re on the Greenwich Peninsula, next to the cable car across the Thames.
The Design District just turned one-year-old.
Each building is very different, and there are still two or three more to be built. The architects’ brief is to do whatever you like, be different, and make the space flexible.
North Greenwich used to be a massive construction site. Now it’s completely different, with lots of residential buildings. Some of my neighbours live here, and they walk to work in five minutes.
There are some really interesting businesses here, including a ceramic workshop, a 3D printer shop, a film studio, the NOW Gallery and a pop-up canteen space. And it’s only four stops on the tube from London Bridge.
It’s a place where people are experimenting.
Right now, there’s a pop-up drink shop made from a skip. Designers are experimenting with different materials for sustainability, mixing and matching different claddings on the buildings to see what works.
There's one building with timber inside and metal cladding outside. My building is concrete, but the cladding is a kind of tube, to make the building a curved shape. There are signs everywhere telling you about the materials used – it’s like a testing playground!
