The search for a suitable building to house the new headquarters (the Human Rights Action Centre) of Amnesty International UK in London came up with an old furniture factory in the up-and-coming district of Shoreditch. This brick building offered good potential for creating well-lit offices in the upper floors and high-ceilinged, public areas on the ground floor. Between the existing front wall and the property line a new, single-storey annexe was built as an entrance gallery. Housed here are the foyer, exhibition area, a stage and a break-out area for the staff. The two parts of the building harmonise in both use of materials and the proportions and spacings of window and door openings. As with the existing building, the outer walls of the new annexe are a masonry construction of small-format bricks. Inside the finishes are simple and robust, e.g. the brickwork is exposed or finished with a cement-sand slurry.