A&C Home HQ Renovation

In 2017, with two new retail stores and an ever-growing product range, it became clear our growing little A&C family needed a new place to call home, so when we stumbled across an old and run down factory in Birkenhead, it was impossible not to see the amazing potential this space offered us as a multi-functional HQ... although a lot of work was going to be needed to bring this baby into 2018!

Read about the project and see all the before and after shots in the March 2018 issue of Your Home & Garden.

BACK TO BASICS
Previously, the building had been through a long line of other tenants, and it seemed that with each new business that moved in, a new ‘patch up’ job had been done to cover up the fact that what it really needed was a good renovation starting from scratch. Stripping back the internal spaces to the bare bones, we focussed on creating a fresh, clean backdrop with Dulux Okarito throughout… including walls, ceilings and floors! Let’s just say the colour was a huge improvement on its sickly pink predecessor and immediately brightened up the vast, loft-like space.

THE GREAT WALL
When dividing the large, open warehouse to create separate areas for a stockroom, photography studio and an office area, we got a bit creative with cardboard tubing! As an inexpensive and non-permanent solution, recyclable cardboard tubes seemed like an easy and effective solution, that would also become an interesting feature of the room. The wall has added a completely new texture and material to the space that provides a nice visual contrast to the surrounding white walls.

HOME COMFORTS
A huge, oak table (designed and built by Corban Walls), gave us a great communal workspace to perch at, while adaptable seating and furniture helped create little corners for those quick meetings, lunch breaks… or just a bit of time out. We styled these areas with soft furnishings from our A&C range, which we can quickly and easily update when we feel like a refresh. Currently, ochre and mustard tones provide a nice pop of colour against the clean, white walls.

GREEN ROOM
We also spent some time making over the bathroom, taking it from bright pink to our favourite deep green, Dulux Mt Messenger. As it was already quite a low light room, by painting it a dark colour we were working with the existing light rather than against it, creating a striking, moody setting.

INSIDE OUT
An exterior overhaul and colour refresh using Dulux Taihape paved the way for a beautiful new flagship store at the front of the building. As budget was tight, Corban Walls designed an aluminium channel that could be secured onto the existing window joinery to give the facade a fresh new look, and with new glass installed throughout the face of the building, it’s made a huge difference to its street appeal.

RETAIL READY
The front of the building now houses our beautiful flagship retail store. The big floor plan and huge amount of natural light that floods in through the front windows makes it the perfect place to showcase all our favourite ranges – including our selection of large furniture pieces that you may not find in our other stores.

In creating our new office, some furniture and styling items were key to getting the look we wanted. To shop these pieces, head over to our A&C HOME HQ ROOM REVEAL Collection.

And come and check out our new retail store for yourself at 7 Enterprise Street, Birkenhead.

Photography: Sophia Bayly