Centre Point

The £350m regeneration of Centre Point was one of the most significant developments in London in recent times. Built in the 1960s by R. Seifert and Partners, it was one the UK’s first skyscrapers and an icon of the capital’s skyline for half a century. In more recent times, the Grade II listed Modernist masterpiece had gone from vibrant commercial hub to a disused shell. In 2015, development firm Almacantar acquired Centrpoint and undertook a regeneration project developing a mixed-use space, featuring 82 luxurious apartments set neatly above the West End of London.

Architect Conran and Partners was appointed to deliver the vision of a luxurious modern residence, while respecting the building’s iconic heritage and design. For such a high-profile project, every component had to be high quality, but also sensitively selected or designed from scratch to fit with the Modernist architectural theme.

Allgood managed the specification, development and delivery of the near £1 million ironmongery and hardware requirements, with many bespoke elements and high specification finishes; the five-year project is among the largest ironmongery projects in the UK.

Every element of the project’s architectural hardware, including handles for the main entrance and interior doors, escutcheons, thumb turns and releases, wardrobe pulls and shower door handles, was individually designed to construct a coherent and original aesthetic.

Taking visual cues from the building’s 1960’s geometric patterning and monochromatic styling, the bespoke, high-specification ironmongery comprised: 800 handles, 1000 locks, 500 sets of levers, 900 wardrobe pulls and 180 shower-door pulls; all custom-made by Allgood at its manufacturing facility in Birmingham.

Winner of the residential category at the 2019 AI Specification Awards, Centre Point remains a classic example of beauty in every detail and a case study in how to run a specification. Of the many bespoke pieces, Allgood designed and manufactured back-to-back pad handles for internal corridor doors. These were made from mirror polished nickel with an unusually high standard of polishing applied to all surfaces, even on the reverse.

Allgood also collaborated with Samuel Heath to design and manufacture a bespoke door lever that was conceived to reflect the famous geometric architecture of the building. Allgood’s hidden fixings completed an elegant, sleek finish, perfectly complementing the apartments’ luxurious feel.