18 UK HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE, TAUNTON
OPEN PLAN The building’s interior is an open, collaborative environment for the agency’s staff to interact in
agency was looking to create an environmentally friendly new home for itself, which, as well as bringing financial benefits, they hoped would provide the up to date technology infrastructure and working conditions necessary to enable the organisation to sustain its long-term future. Employed to enact this vision were architects AHR, engineers Hydrock, cost consultant Mace, and main contractor BAM, with the budget for the new office being met by the UKHO from business receipts as a self-funding agency. AHR, awarded the design services contract in 2016, was reportedly chosen for its significant experience working on similar projects, in particular a new headquarters for Bath and North East Somerset Council – which had won a number of awards, including ‘The best of the best’ award 2015 from the British Council for Offices.
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From the outset, there was an extremely close collaborative working relationship between the client and the practice, bringing UKHO staff into the design process and allowing the agency and its workers to contribute to the vision and eventual feel of the building.
When the practice first discussed the proposal with the client, Adam Spall, regional director at AHR, explains that the UKHO’s aspiration was for “a ‘one team’ culture.” Spall explains how they approached
this, telling that it was vital to create a “physical and visual connection between all parts of the building,” which resulted “in an impressive sense of openness for such a large facility.” With this open facility now being completed, its success is testament to the collaborative approach undertaken. This is evidenced by its deliverance to an ambitious
ADF AUGUST 2019
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