4M Office

Suspended from above, watching over all that happens, hang the experimental concept developed as a fusion of materials art and architecture, of square mud tiling, created remarkably in its entirety from the very earth of the capital.

Beneath these, brimming the central hallway, guard metal panels - inspired by the trees of Hyde Park, crafted to emulate the streaming dappled patterns, cast through the leaves of the oaks, in the glowing dusk of summer. Conveying a strong theme of the ‘metal forest’ through paradoxical imagery – they stand as a metaphor to highlighting the two contrasting states of being that exist side by side - walking free amidst nature, whilst confined by the interior. What better framing could match the essence of its incumbents – as they stand within the former interior office of the 4M Group.

In the prestigious London Borough of Southwark, the aim was to create a workspace where people wanted to come, a place that would represent everything that 4M stood for, encapsulating our morality and jubilant zest for experimentation; all the while an unerring dedication and love for the environment ubiquitous throughout.

The office was homed in a reconverted storage space in the ground floor. In its prime it would have gleaned of Victorian Grandeur – however, the years of neglect and mistreatment had left its original texture and personality defeated and withdrawn. Undeterred, we tripped everything away to the bare brickwork, to expose the raw beauty beneath, and left it to stand proud in its authentic originality.

In a triumph to geometric synergy, this tactile and multi-layered success publishes the unique craft that is wielded by the talented hand of the 4M group – a style that is both inspired by, and created with nature. In its completion, it assembles to stand as a visual pleasure, imbued within it a strong sense of 4M’s distinct creative flair, a physical representation describing its very soul.

This space feeds the creativity, nourishes the soul, and reminds us that even while we are inside, we must remember to appreciate in the light of the oak filtered sun.

As Winston Churchill once wisely put it - "We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us."

So true does this ring here.