The House of Vans London is the recently completed project by designers Pete Hellicar and Tim Greatrex, together with Kat Mackenzie and Henry Clay (Black Sparrow Presents) – the project management team for the House of Vans London.
The House of Vans London is a new mixed use creative venue for Vans enthusiasts and those interested in skateboarding culture.The new venue includes an art gallery, ‘Vans labs’ creative spaces, screening room, live music for 850 people, a premium café, numerous bars and a three tier indoor concrete skate park. The site was previously used by the Old Vic Theatre. The area of the site is approximately 2,500 square metres and contains 5 separate long tunnel spaces. Due to the site being located within the historic arches of the railway lines above, restrictions were clearly set to disallow any form of structural fixing or disturbance to the existing brickwork – the irony was not missed with Vans ‘Off the Wall’ having occupied the site.
The requirement from Vans was to provide a cultural hub for skateboarding, art, film and music. Utilising the layout of the tunnels, the site was delineated into the four main functions of the brief so that each were housed within a specific tunnel. The entrance counter takes the form of a swimming pool section, complete with pool coping stones and a ‘love seat’. Rubber was the obvious choice of material for the floor as it is the material for the Vans shoe and the core material of the original Vans Doren Rubber Company. The choice of durable yet reusable/recyclable materials was very important to the designers and the client. Neon lighting was also employed in the space, as it seemed appropriate within the subterranean environment. The branded neon signs create evocative focal points within the space – at the entrance, bars, stage and within the green room.
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