The facts
Client: Atlantic Property
Developments
Location: Southampton
Services: Architecture, building
services, BREEAM, structures, interior design, accommodation and
space planning
Sector: Offices
Contract Type: Design &
Build
Project Value: £13m
Start/Completion: 2008 – 2010
The project
Capita Symonds provided a range of
design and planning services on Southampton's new Regional Business
Centre (RBC) at Guildhall Square at the heart of Southampton city
centre.
The Centre, which will accommodate staff from both Southampton
City Council and its strategic partnership with Capita Symonds and
other parts of the Capita Group, is part of a major redevelopment
of the Guildhall Square area of the city which also includes a new
cultural quarter.
The client brief was to provide a
modern office building, designed in a contemporary style whilst
sympathising with the surrounding context in scale, character,
continuity and quality. The building is designed with visual
clarity, utilising structures that are contemporary and current
whilst also maintaining the character and appearance of the
Guildhall setting. The use of traditional natural materials and a
massing in keeping with the Guildhall building and wider area
ensures the proposal, whilst appearing contemporary responds
appropriately to the character of the area.
The redevelopment is a key part of the Council's wider plans for
the regeneration and economic development of the city which is
expected to bring in around £175m of private and public investment.
The investment in the cultural quarter alone is expected to bring
in more than 2,000 direct jobs and an additional £21m of visitor
spend each year.
The Regional Business Centre is also part of the Council’s
Accommodation Strategy Action Programme (ASAP) which will play a
vital role in providing a better working environment and supporting
new ways of working whilst also achieving reduced accommodation
costs.