Adaptive Solution

How do you solve a problem like Old Street Roundabout? In recent decades, the area surrounding this busy intersection to the east of London’s city center has undergone rapid gentrification, but the roundabout itself is still best known for its chaotic and dangerous whirlwind of traffic.

- Debika Ray

An overhaul is finally under way, and in a harbinger of the area’s transformation, developer Derwent London has unveiled a major mixed-use complex designed by Stirling Prize–winning architecture practice Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) on its southwest corner.

At its heart is a 16-story office building, the White Collar Factory tower. With its provocative name, stripped-down interiors, and rooftop running track, the project embodies many hipster-capitalist clichés, but eight years of research by AHMM mean it’s also a sophisticated response to the site’s challenging conditions and to important questions about the future of workspaces.