Elsley House, Fitzrovia.
Nestled in the heart of London’s vibrant West End, Elsley House is a striking example of urban renewal. Originally serving the city’s historic ‘rag trade’—a hub for fashion and textiles—this five-storey building in Fitzrovia has been thoughtfully refurbished to meet the demands of modern commercial life. Today, it houses leading names from the marketing, media, and creative industries, offering them a space that combines architectural heritage with forward-thinking design.
The scale and sensitivity of the refurbishment demanded the involvement of experienced contractors with a track record of high-quality finishes and attention to detail. CDC Engineering was proud to be subcontracted to deliver key metalwork elements throughout the project.
One of the core tasks was the fabrication of all Fan Coil Unit (FCU) castings as part of the building’s upgraded heating and ventilation system. These systems were designed to be both high-performance and discreet, ensuring they integrate effortlessly into the building’s contemporary interiors. In fact, in many areas, the FCU units are so well-blended with the surroundings that they are virtually invisible—demonstrating a perfect union of functionality and design.
The FCU castings were crafted using mild steel and finished in a black powder coating, chosen both for durability and to complement the interior’s modern industrial palette. This same material and finish were extended to other custom-fabricated elements, including:
These additions help tie the building’s visual identity together, creating a cohesive and refined aesthetic throughout.
Elsley House now stands as a benchmark for adaptive reuse projects in central London—demonstrating how older commercial buildings can be repurposed to suit new uses without losing their character. CDC Engineering is proud to have contributed to this transformation, delivering expertly crafted metalwork that balances performance, subtlety, and design integrity.
CDC Engineering Completes FCU Cover Project at Belgravia House, Horseferry Road
At CDC Engineering, we take pride in our ability to deliver precise and high-quality bespoke metalwork solutions. Our recent project at Belgravia House, a Grade 2 office building located on Horseferry Road in the heart of Westminster, exemplifies our commitment to excellence in the construction industry. Subcontracted by Woodhouse Workspace, we were tasked with the manufacture and installation of white powder-coated Fan Coil Unit (FCU) covers as part of the building’s full refurbishment and remodeling.
(more…)330 Holborn Gate is just a minute’s walk from Chancery Lane station, and perfectly situated between the West End and The City. CDC Engineering had a pleasure to undertake refurbishment work for this building and were allocated to take on metal work fabrication and fitting.
This large building underwent a full refurbishment to transform it into a modern building that still boasts a traditional style. Buckley Gray Yeoman was the architecture firm leading the design for this project.
We were delighted to manufacture and install all of the bespoke FCU covers within the building, ensuring they fit in with the aesthetics of the refurbished building.
On the upper floors, the FCU covers were flush-mounted in between the window upright supports with front and bottom air intakes. The front panels are easily removable for maintenance and cleaning purposes. These were finished in a satin black matching the window trims, continuing the modern feeling of the building.
FCU covers were installed in the offices that had different floors, some were carpeted, some had wood/laminate finish and some building floors had tiles. Also, the commercial space had different purpose offices and rooms, but FCU covers have blended in with it all making it look like part of the design.
This was a very rewarding project to be involved with due to the different metal finishes that we manufactured in-house for the client. These were incorporated throughout the building in other aspects of work that we were involved with.
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