Posted on November 9, 2011 by Rob Powell
These offices in central Greenwich, south-east London, were once upon a time home to an innovativee attempt by six London boroughs to share computer services.
Back then, computers were very expensive and rather than own computers, local authorities would rent computer processing time. The treasurer at Greenwich Council, John Humphries, worked with colleagues to establish a new computer centre where six Metropolitan boroughs would own their computer.
The computer itself was a LEO III, and the building came to be known as John Humphries House – named after the man who helped make it happen but sadly died just months before it opened.
The local council retained the offices for years before they were sold into private hands, with many small businesses renting out individual offices and the car park becoming a popular vintage market at weekends.
These offices are shortly to be demolished and in their place will be a new purpose built campus library and School of Architecture for the University of Greenwich.
Find out more about the history of John Humphries House.
Offices.org.uk is looking for more stories of offices that have an interesting history. If you know of any offices that were previously used for something else or have been converted from another use, email rob@offices.org.uk
Posted in London |
Tagged Offices that used to be... |
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Posted on November 7, 2011 by Rob Powell
CAMDEN Council has given the green light to a mixed use building at Pancras Square which will house a new leisure centre and council offices.
The 13-storey development, which already had outline planning permission, will sit as part of a the large King’s Cross Central vision for the area around Pancras Square.
On the lower floors, the building will offer new swimming pools, a library and the council’s “contact centre”. The floors above will provide over 15,000 sqm of office space with most of it being taken by the council.
Offices will enjoy terraces overlooking Camley Natural Park and the Pancras Road.
The scheme was backed by councillors at a meeting of the Development Control Committee last week. Cllr Braithwaite described it as a “a fantastically exciting and well executed scheme.”
The council believes that the building, which they hope will achieve a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ sustainability rating, will save them save in excess of £77m that would have been needed to refurbish and maintain existing public buildings.
Posted in London |
Tagged King's Cross Central, Planning |
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Posted on November 2, 2011 by Rob Powell
DEVELOPERS have put forward plans for a new 55-storey skyscraper in Croydon.
1 Landsdowne Road would include 16,756 m2 of office space, alongside almost 400 residential apartments and a four-star hotel with over 200 rooms.
The mixed use development is being proposed by Guildhouse-Rosepride and CZWG are the architects.
It would sit on an L-shaped plot at the corner of Wellesley Road and Landsdown Road, replacing three existing buildings: the YMCA, the Fairfield Hotel and Marco Polo House .
The development “resembles the earliest of New York skyscrapers which often mixed office, leisure, sports, residential and hotel in one construction,” according to planning documents.
Croydon, which is currently bidding for city status, adopted a Unitary Development Plan in 2006 which encourages high buildings in the town’s Metropolitan Centre:
“High buildings should be seen as an opportunity to create high quality, distinctive landmark structures that enhance Croydon’s skyline whilst having regard for their context at street level”
A similar size skyscraper in Croydon – set to be the UK’s tallest residential building – was recently approved.
The planning application for 1 Landsdowne has been submitted to Croydon council and a decision is set to be made early next year.
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Posted in London |
Tagged Croydon, Planning, Skyscrapers, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on October 31, 2011 by Rob Powell
AN ICONIC new office building has been given planning consent by councillors in Hounslow.
The 50 metre tall development will be built on a derelict site at Chiswick Roundabout, next to the M4. It has already been dubbed the “Octopus” and will offer 5,000m2 of office space.
The building will be covered in an LED shroud, offering illuminated advertising and “artistic” space.
Council officers had recommended that the scheme be turned down, citing concerns about the effect of the LED screen. They said it would “undermine the credibility of the building as an iconic development”, while having a “jarring impact” on a nearby cemetery.
But councillors on the Sustainable Development Committee decided to back the development, which is proposed by developer London & Bath Estates and is expected to create over 300 jobs.
According to the Hounslow Chronicle, Councillor Steve Curran, vice chairman of the committee, said: “Members felt it was an iconic building. There were more than 500 letters of support, Brentford Chamber of Commerce wanted it and we felt it woyld bring jobs and regeneration to the area.”
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Posted in London |
Tagged Planning |
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Posted on October 28, 2011 by John Cronin
Regeneration specialists Muse Developments has been chosen as the key developer for a £200m scheme in Basingstoke.
Muse is to work in partnership with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council to redevelop the 65-acre Basing View business park.
Basing View was developed during the 70’s and 80’s as the town’s main commercial district. The council has decided that the park is in need of redevelopment to safeguard the long-term future of the site.
The masterplan (artists impression above) proposes a range of distinct commercial areas, predominately offering commercial office space along with leisure, retail and public spaces. A new ‘Urban Office Quarter’ will offer high quality office buildings of four to six stories to complement the existing office buildings. A new ‘Business Village’ will offer a range of smaller, serviced offices that will be made available on flexible terms.
Planning permission was secured in July 2009 and consent was also given for a new hotel within Basing View. Phase one demolition of two derelict 1970’s, ten-storey office blocks was delayed due to the original demolition firm going into administration.
Muse will construct the new hotel as well as new office buildings on five separate sites within Basing View that will offer in excess of 700,000 sq ft of floor space. It is estimated that the project has the potential to take the number of staff working within the park from 5,000 to 10,000.
Commenting on the scheme, Councillor Ranil Jayawardena, Council Cabinet Member for Finance and Property said: “We are very pleased to be working with Muse Developments to drive forward our vision for a modern, regionally recognised, business destination – delivering real economic growth for Basingstoke and North Hampshire.”
Construction work is expected to start in 2012.
Related: Offices in Hampshire locations
Posted in Hampshire |
Tagged Business Parks, Demolitions, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on October 26, 2011 by John Cronin
The latest letting at the Alba Centre, Livingston has seen the occupancy rate at the office complex pass 90%.
Miller Developments has announced that it has secured a five-year lease on 6,300 sq ft of office space with web-filtering company Bloxx.
The firm has taken an office suite on the second floor of the Alba Centre (pictured), one of the multi-let office buildings within Alba Business Park.
The letting to Bloxx takes the speculative scheme to within 10% of full occupancy. Other recent tenants include Athena Smartcard. Existing tenant WCEC Architects has taken up additional floor space due to expansion. Earlier this year, media heavyweight BSkyB agreed to take space in the Watermark building, one of the larger multi-let schemes within the park. Rental prices have not been disclosed.
Alba Business Park, located approximately 15miles outside of Edinburgh at Livingston, comprises of ten multi-let office buildings within a 95-acre woodland setting. A range of office accommodation is available to let, with suites at the Alba Pavilions buildings starting at 1,700 sq ft. Last month the scheme was selected as the winner of the 2011 BCO Awards “Best Project up to 2,000 sq.m.” The building is BREEAM rated ‘Very Good’.
Commenting on the latest lettings Pamela Grant, Development Director, Miller Developments, said: “The new lettings at Alba Centre take the building to over 90% occupied which is very refreshing considering the current market conditions. Alba has a very impressive tenant line up including big named occupiers such as Sky and Elonics, highlighting its reputation as a central Scotland business park.”
Joint marketing agents are GVA and Jones Lang LaSalle.
Posted in West Lothian |
Tagged Awards, Business Parks, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on October 24, 2011 by John Cronin
Developer UK & European has secured Tate & Lyle as the first occupier of floor space at its One Kingsway scheme.
UK & European has secured its first office tenant at the One Kingsway building (pictured – website). The only other current occupier in the building is the Delaunay Restaurant, based on the ground and basement levels.
Tate & Lyle has signed for the top two floors at the London, Midtown located building. Agreeing to a 15-year lease, the firm has taken 24,780 sq ft at a rental price of £67.50 / sq ft.
Occupying a prominent corner of Aldwych and Kingsway WC2, the existing 1920’s building has been completely rebuilt with only the original facade being retained. Just over 79,000 sq ft of the 105,000 sq ft of office floor space remains available over floors 1 – 6. Floor plates range from 11,050 sq ft to 13,742 sq ft. The mixed-use scheme of retail, office space and residential units has achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.
Letting agents Farebrother believes that investments in Midtown office developments are set to exceed pre-recession levels. Reporting that annual investment to date in Midtown is nearly £2bn, Julian Hind, Head of Leasing, Sales & Development comments (pdf link): “We have upped our end-of-year projection for total office take-up to circa 2.4m sq ft. Total, named demand for new and secondhand space remains strong at 4.7m sq ft, up by 300,000 sq ft on Q2.”
Earlier in the year, Capita Symonds published a report indicating that Midtown rents had risen by 18% over Q1, 2011.
Joint commercial marketing agents are Jones Lang LaSalle and Farebrother.
Posted in London |
Tagged Rental Prices, Speculative Developments, Transactions |
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Posted on October 21, 2011 by John Cronin
Supermarket giant Asda has officially opened a second office base in Leeds, the home city of the company.
On Wednesday Asda CEO Andy Clarke presided over an official opening event of new company offices at The Mint building at Holbeck Urban Village, Leeds.
Asda, which has been based in Leeds since the 1980’s, has relocated approximately 350 staff into the new offices. Asda agreed to lease 38,000 sq ft of floor space over two floors at The Mint back in April and has since overseen a fit-out programme.
The Mint (pictured above) is an eight-storey, £17m BREEAM ‘Excellent’ office building offering total floor space of 117,500 sq ft. Asda has taken the first two upper floors along with some floor space on the ground floor. Floor plates within The Mint range in size from 9,150 sq ft to 16,150 sq ft. Developers Deltalord completed the speculative scheme in 2009 and 79,500 sq ft of space remains unoccupied.
Holbeck Urban Village is a mixed-use, regeneration scheme and is a joint venture between Leeds City Council and regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. The commercial space is being targeted at the creative, digital and new media sectors. Flexible office space is available across a range of new and existing buildings, several of which are Grade II Listed.
Commenting on the new Asda offices, Colin Hayes of Deltalord said:”The considered fit-out by Asda’s design team has fully realised the architects vision of a light-filled, high-tech modern office space. [The Mint] is now enlivened by Asda’s investment in the area.”
Rental prices have not been disclosed. Joint marketing agents are AWS Ltd and Savills.
Posted in West Yorkshire |
Tagged Listed Buildings, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on October 19, 2011 by John Cronin
Plans to demolish a well-known office building in Sheffield have received objections from locals who believe it should be renovated.
Hambleton House, (pictured) is the former headquarter offices the Sheffield-based South Yorkshire Transport Passenger Executive (SYPTE).
The offices have remained unoccupied since SYPTE relocating to new premises within the city six years ago. The property arm of SYPTE now wants to demolish the building as it believes the property is beyond repair.
Due to objections to the proposed demolition, SYPTE has now been forced to obtain full planning permission for the demolition. Campaigners hope that this will delay proceedings and create an opportunity to save the building. Local resident Neil Keally told the The Star: “A city centre building of this stature, history and architectural interest should absolutely not be allowed to be simply demolished.”
The site actually consists of two separate buildings, Hambleton House and a smaller adjoining property known as Castlegate Buildings. Located on Exchange Street, Hambleton House is a 26,000 sq ft, seven-storey office block dating back to the mid 1920’s. It is believed to have been constructed by the retailing family WH Smith. Castlegate Buildings offers 13,200 sq ft of floor space over two floors, half of which is suitable as office accommodation.
The buildings are in close proximity to The Square office development that is being developed by Carillion. The development consists of a Travelodge, a car park and office buildings ranging in size from 30,000 sq ft to 100,000 sq ft. SYPTE now occupies one of the phase-one office blocks.
It is still not certain if SYPTE will press ahead with the demolition. Commenting on the proposals, John Haddon, spokesperson said: “Other possible options are to refurbish the building and/or work with the council to maintain the building in some format.”
Posted in South Yorkshire |
Tagged Demolitions |
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Posted on October 18, 2011 by Rob Powell
Designers have floated proposals for a new office development in London’s Old Street.
Startup City would be an new addition to what’s become known as Silicon Roundabout, offering configurable office space to tech startups with a new enclosed public space on the ground floor.
Dubbed a “city-within-a-city” by designers, the building’s façade would be a programmable digital exterior offering advertising opportunities by the pixel and by the minute.
The concept is the result of a partnership between Space Station and 00:/ (‘zero zero’).
Space Station director Russell Chopp commented:
“The roundabout is a landmark opportunity to articulate and amplify what is happening in the area.”
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Posted in London |
Tagged Speculative Developments |
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