AstraZeneca: Cheshire

Location: Parklands Development, Cheshire

Sector: Health/ Medical/ Pharmaceutical

Project Size: 12,500 Sq m (750 staff)

Project Value: £34m

Programme: 48 weeks

Scope of Works: Consultancy > Design

The Brief

Claremont was appointed as Interior Designer to work as part of the professional team to deliver a 12,500 sq m office development for AstraZeneca. The building was to accommodate 750 staff who were used to working in cellular offices and a space strategy was to be developed to allow AstraZeneca ultimate flexibility for the future.

The Solution

The concept for the atrium space was developed to bring the feeling of the Parkland setting inside and to create an inspiring space to encourage communication and collaboration. This multi-purpose space provides a bistro, an exhibition space incorporating AV equipment for exhibitions up to 250 people and an informal lounge area. The open plan space accommodates a variety of work settings and we carried out workshop sessions to ensure the strategy was understood. The issue of sound absorption was addressed by creating an internal architecture of acoustic control features and materials that minimise the disruptive effects of background noise.

The Result

The open plan space is broken into human-scaled floor plates by the central atrium which together with the glass façade floods the interior with natural light. The open plan work areas were designed to be flexible, each wing having a central service hub and a combination of bookable private harbours and meeting facilities coupled with an informal breakout space. The atrium space is now a very well-used informal meeting venue and lunch area and is used not only by the occupants of the building but by people across the campus site.

The scheme won the BCO award for the North West in 2003.

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