Watkins Payne provided MEP systems and IT cabling design services for the fit-out of 186,000ft² of commercial offices in the eight storey 1 Forbury Place in Reading, which formed the focus of SSE Services plc’s relocation strategy to consolidate several buildings from across southern England and accommodate 1,500 employees in a single location.
The Cat B fit-out design supports agile working, collaboration and connectivity, optimising employee and visitor comfort. Facilities include a café with catering facilities on the ground floor, main and secondary plant equipment rooms, a sixth floor conference and meeting rooms suite, and agile open plan office areas on other floors consisting of collaboration spaces, meeting pods and booths with VC facilities.
The majority of the base build MEP systems were retained, adapted and modified with flexibility in mind, to ‘future proof’ and support the Client’s needs.
The base build air conditioning, which is provided by electric VRF systems was modified to suit the fit-out. A standby generator was installed for resilience, and a fully networked CCTV and security access control system was provided to meet the Client’s operational requirements.
The Practice also assisted the Client in the initial due diligence exercise as part of the lease negotiations.
The 47,900ft² area of The Smithson building in Farringdon was refurbished to high quality office accommodation, for which Watkins Payne supplied building services engineering, vertical transportation engineering and energy consultancy to achieve an EPC B rating. The refurbished area is spread across basement and ground floor.
Watkins Payne carried out the Independent Design Review role for Seal House, a commercial office development, located in central London.
Watkins Payne reviewed a number of mechanical and electrical options with the team, focusing on retention of key central plant, overhaul and replacement of plant where required, and LED lighting to reduce energy and improve the office environment.
Coda Studio, located in Fulham’s Munster Road, contains 57 self-contained office units providing rentable accommodation for various types of small businesses. An 8,600ft² section of the existing car park was reallocated for the development of a gym, lounge and meeting area, for which Watkins Payne supplied building services engineering.
The building services use a 4-pipe fan coil unit arrangement with various ventilation systems to suit the different use areas. Full building power back-up standby generation, UPS, security and access control and automatic blinds all formed part of the fit-out.
103 Colmore Row in Birmingham, has achieved a successful practical completion with BREEAM accreditation of ‘Excellent’, an EPC Rating A, and WiredScore rating of ‘Platinum’.