focus on slough
A WELL different office building
With The Porter Building, Landid and Brockton Capital are bringing an entirely new kind of workplace to Slough
Step out of the railway station at Slough and you can’t miss The Porter Building, with its vibrant construction hoardings that have been decorated by street artists to feature a stunning enchanted forest scene.
A stone’s throw from the station, The Porter Building, developed by a joint venture between Landid and Brockton Capital, will bring an entirely new kind of workspace to Slough when it completes in the third quarter this year.
The 119,400 sq ft speculative new-build office by architect TP Bennett has been designed with employee wellbeing at its heart and is in line to be one of the first UK office buildings to achieve WELL Building certification through the international WELL Building Institute – a global rating system grounded in medical research that is aimed at positively improving the impact of buildings on human health.
It’s a building that would not be out of place in Clerkenwell, Shoreditch or some other trendy part of central London – but instead it is being built directly opposite the train station in Slough.
So what attracted the Landid and Brockton partnership to the town, what sets The Porter Building apart from other office schemes – and what exactly does it mean to be a WELL building? The Business Magazine caught up with Chris Hiatt, director at Landid, to find out.
The Porter Building is a speculative development so clearly you have a lot of confidence in Slough?
Yes, absolutely. Slough has a huge amount going for it and it has, quite unfairly in my view, suffered from a perception problem; but anyone who actually visits and steps off the train can see exciting
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things are happening and the reality is now quite far removed from the perception. The location, so close to Heathrow, the M4 corridor and London is a huge plus – and that connectivity will get even better when the Elizabeth Line arrives. The reality is that Slough will be better connected to central London than many London boroughs.
What kind of occupiers are you hoping to attract to The Porter Building?
We are sector agnostic but The Porter Building is a high-spec design- led office aimed at modern businesses. As with the other offices we are currently developing in partnership with Brockton Capital – the Charter Building in Uxbridge, which completed in January, and the Thames Tower in Reading, which completed last month – The Porter Building is aimed at attracting businesses that value things like high- quality design, innovative workspaces, sustainability and workforce wellbeing.
Already Slough is home to a large number of major occupiers, and that is only going to increase as businesses become more aware of the benefits of Slough as a location and the wider regeneration programme that is underway. As costs in London continue to increase, we think Slough is ideally placed to attract businesses looking for better alternatives. Contemporary businesses want to be in great buildings in well-connected locations with excellent amenities and that means they want to be in town centres.
So what sets The Porter Building apart?
We think The Porter Building is going to be unlike anything Slough has had before. We are creating a workplace that meets the needs of modern businesses and will do so at a price point well down on what businesses would be asked to pay in central London. The building will positively impact on business performance, through staff retention and attraction, wellbeing and productivity and will meet the aspirations of the very best talent.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – APRIL 2017
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