BT Headquarters
Edinburgh Park

Jane Burridge at Bennetts Associates Architects

In 1996, Jane Burridge was a key member of the team at Bennetts Associates that won a limited competition to design a new headquarters building for BT at Edinburgh Park and had a crucial role in the project from inception to completion

As with previous headquarter buildings - Powergen and John Menzies - the brief requirement for pleasant energy efficient workspace with good levels of daylight lead to the use of narrow floor plates and a high thermal mass. At approximately 150,000sqft gross the building would provide for up to 800 occupants on a site at the focal position of Richard Meier's masterplan.

The building is comprised of six 13.5m deep parallel floorplates running east west connected by a glazed street element running north south. Floorplates are twinned around 6m wide atria and 9m wide garden and entrance atria are introduced to further break down the repetitive nature of the building. Restaurant, cafe and meeting spaces are contained in the dramatic Amenity Building. This red cube enclosed in a circular metal drum projects out from the rectilinear offices into Lochan giving views back to Edinburgh and south along the water to the Pentlands Hills and forming the iconic feature of the building and Edinburgh Park itself.

Completion: May 1999

 
Structural Engineer: Blyth & Blyth Associates
Services Engineer: Roberts and Partners
Landscape Architect: Ian White Associates
Quantity Surveyor: Tozer Capita
Design and Build Contractor: Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd
Floor Area: 13,935sqm

Awards:

RIBA Award 2000
Scottish Design Award - Corporate Building and Chairman's Award 2000
British Council for Offices Award 2000
Times Gestetner Award 2001
Dynamic Place Awards - Sustainability (The Sir Robert Grieve Award)