Ian Ritchie Architects were commissioned in October 1988 to design, detail and supervise the construction to completion within 52 weeks and to a fixed budget, a 90,000 ft sq office/research facility building in the celebrated Stockley Park Development.
The concept of the building, arranged on 3 floors, caters for single or multi-tenancy occupation, and was the first of this size at Stockley Park to allow this.
This project created the opportunity to develop with Pilkington, the double-glazed Planar® external skin of the entire building. It uses clear, toughened fritted and in some areas low energy coated glass. It is architecturally animated by large curved perforated stainless steel solar shades on south, east and west facades.
The strong landscape qualities of the park as a whole are brought right up to the main entrance of the building and a tall cylindrical landscaped space forms the ante-room to the entrance. The finished building provided a sleek, discreet, and efficiently organised (>90% gross/nett) facility - 90% British made!
The building received numerous awards, including a Financial Times commendation, and contributed to Ian Ritchie Architects receiving the Iritecna Architectural Award for Europe.