Royal opening for British Horse Society offices
HRH The Princess Royal officially opened the distinctive new offices of the British Horse Society (BHS) on Tuesday.
The new BHS offices in the Grade II Listed deer park at Abbey Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire cost £3.5m to build and replace existing office accommodation within temporary buildings that were deemed unfit for purpose. The project was entirely funded by the BHS.
The unusual “squashed doughnut” design of the building (pictured) was necessary to preserve a 300 year old oak tree that now sits in a centre courtyard. Construction of the offices also had to take into account other protected trees on the site. The building has been constructed using natural materials such as stone and oak and a sedum roof has been included. The single storey building offers total floor space of approximately 20,000 sq ft of which 15,000 sq ft is now occupied by the BHS. The remaining 5,000 sq ft floor space is to be sub-let to various other equine organisations. The new offices offer an additional 4,800 sq ft of floor space compared to the old buildings.
BHS Chief Executive Graham Cory said: “A bright, spacious and airy office now stands in the space once occupied by a building which was none of these. Previously, I had felt mean when I asked staff to work in such poor conditions and embarrassed when we welcomed visitors.”
Planning permission for the redevelopment was granted in March, 2009. Architect for the scheme were SMC Corstorphine & Wright, now known as Archial. Construction works were completed in late 2010.
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