Office of the Future Competition
Speculative office tower for start-ups
Location: Southwark, London
, UK
Status: Competition shortlisted
Area: 40,000m² / 430,000ft²
Client: British Council for Offices
2017
For the BCO NextGen competition on the office of 2035, we designed a 16-storey tower near London Bridge where a start-up can grow from one person to 100. Its starting point is the 'Garage', a secure 400 sq ft unit for up to eight people. A survey of business owners pointed to three needs: room to grow quickly, space for working together in person, and workplaces that support wellbeing. In a steel frame with CLT floors, plywood partitions can be removed as a company expands into the next unit.
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We imagined a company's journey from co-working, to a Garage, to half a floor or more through a large 1:50 plywood model. The site we chose is an underused car park near London Bridge. The 16-storey tower holds 224,000 sq ft of flexible workspace around the perimeter and co-working along a central axis, with double-height amenity spaces, generous terraces and shared event and fitness spaces to build a community within the building.
Process
CLT slabs suspended on the lower flange of a steel structure minimises buildup and improves embodied energy
Proposed location in place of an underused car park near London Bridge
Drawings
E136.
Office of the Future Competition
Year:
2017
The proposals were developed in collaboration with Max Fordham LLP, Michael He, and Pell Frischmann structures.