Image Credit : Billy Bolton
Project Overview
AstraZeneca UK’s commercial head office has a new workspace, designed by Ekho Studio, a new interiors agency which has just celebrated its first year in business.
Spread across two floors and over 21,000 sq ft of number 2 Pancras Square, King’s Cross - currently London’s fastest-growing district – and located between the two great railway stations of King’s Cross and St Pancras International.
The new scheme has been created in addition to the 15,000 sq ft the principal company occupies in the same building, having moved there in 2019. The new space is home to staff from AstraZeneca UK, which was previously located in Luton and includes teams across medical, marketing, digital, communications, finance and HR functions, supporting the UK’s biopharmaceutical and oncology business teams.
AstraZeneca UK will use its new King’s Cross HQ to drive collaboration and innovation further. The move reflects AstraZeneca UK’s renewed ambition to drive collaboration and innovation both internally and externally, with its relocation to London’s new ‘Knowledge Quarter’ bringing them closer to their broad network of healthcare partners to work in ambitious, purpose-led partnerships.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Ekho Studio: Sarah Dodsworth, Rachel Withey, Ellie McCrum
Project Manager: Mott McDonald
Cost Consultant: Turner + Townsend
Mechanical + Electrical Consultants: Mott McDonald
Lighting Design: Enigma Lighting
Acoustic Consultant: Mott McDonald
AV / IT Consultant: ISDM
FF+E Consultant: TFP (The Furniture Practice)
Main Contractor: Mace
BREEAM Consultant: Mott McDonald
Project Brief
The new workplace needed to house more than 200 employees at 156 bookable workstation desks, with agile work-from-home (WFH) options taken on board, as well as the provision of a variety of non-workstation spaces, from informal collaboration and breakaway settings to an on-site restaurant and an external terrace space. The new scheme also had to incorporate a reception area, a variety of VC-enabled meeting rooms, plus dedicated washrooms and shower facilities.
The outcomes of a series of interactive workshops with the client’s steering group was summarised in terms of high-level aspirations as being about ‘New Beginnings’ and ‘Escaping to the Office’ (with the upgrade in the environment looking to stimulate a real desire to a return to in-office working) and making sure the client bought into every stage of the design journey, as there were anxieties to be managed about the scale of the changes coming their way.
Project Innovation/Need
The successful integration of technology was a major piece of the brief. This is a client who seriously invests in making tech’ work for its people, rather than paying lip service to the latest products and trends. Every single meeting room is VC enabled, whilst the ‘plug and play’ transitional areas all feature Microsoft Surface Hub technology (screens on wheels,) which make these areas properly effective as idea-sharing spaces. In the quiet rooms, tech controls – so often a barrier to a good design solution - are integrated discreetly into sideboards, meaning people can relax in a comfy armchair & still take part in an online meeting.
Design Challenge
The overarching ethos for the new space was to create a healthier, more comfortable and productive workspace, and to balance the needs of a functional workplace, whilst creating a sense of aspiration.
As part of the early visioning process, the team managed to find a precious slot in-between lockdowns and spent a day benchmarking in London. The places visited included boutique hotel lounges and amenity spaces, coworking spaces and high concept retail experience stores. The idea being to take influences and ideas from each of these sectors of design to weave into the office design brief, with the latter the most familiar to the project team.
With such a rich body of inspiration to go on, every type of space within the new office, every setting and item had to fight for its place and be there for a reason. No gimmicks allowed. Intimate areas with soft seating are scattered thoughtfully around the more traditional desk spaces, with luxe finishes, and warm timbers creating a hospitality feel. A number of collaboration areas act as a transition between workstations, whilst on each floor, bespoke marble clad coffee bars each nestle under a curved oak frame which features integrated illumination and a wealth of planting and lush foliage.
The new workplace successfully nurtures an easy and informal atmosphere which will in turn foster chance collaborations – just as the brief requested - redefining how AstraZeneca UK works and engages with the outside world.
Sustainability
The scheme needed to be biophilic, flexible and highly-energy-efficient, creating a space that would nurture an easy and informal atmosphere which in turn would foster serendipitous collaborations, with work and social behaviours are no longer siloed and instead mixing together naturally.
Where possible elements of the previous tenants fitout, such as the servery counter, were reused and repurposed as part of a recycling approach to existing materials which would otherwise end up in landfill.
As part of this aspiration, Optimum energy efficiency was also achieved, with the project receiving a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, a testament to the hard work and collaboration of the design team.
Interior Design - Corporate & Commercial
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes, aesthetic presentation and functionality. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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