176 St Vincent Street - The Beacon
St Vincent Street, Glasgow
Reiach and Hall were appointed by Grosvenor Developments Ltd and Norwich Union Life and Pensions Ltd in 1996 for this new speculative office building on the corner of Wellington Street and St Vincent Street, Glasgow. It is on ten floors and has been designed as a low-energy building using displacement ventilation.
The clients’ brief for 176 St Vincent Street was to realise the optimum development of the site and to have a flexible building suitable for multi lettings which would attract the best possible calibre of tenant. Additional requirements were that it was to be designed to facilitate ease and low cost of maintenance and should be regarded among the best contemporary office space in Glasgow. Finally, it was also a requirement that the building should adopt a low energy approach to environmental services.
The plan was developed to give clear, rational, and efficient office spaces. This resulted in an essentially column free floorplate. The low energy requirements of the brief were a significant determinant on all aspects of the building design, from internal finishes to external modelling of the elevations. By adopting a displacement ventilation system in place of the usual VAV or fan coil air conditioning, the design makes a significant departure for speculative offices. This allows the building to have opening windows, giving the users a significant level of control of their own environment. Requirements of this system on the building fabric were embraced enthusiastically in the design, and together with other brief and cityscape requirements gave rise to the built form.
Internal finishes were specified for their durability and quality, applied in a simple manner. The avoidance of suspended ceilings in the open plan floor spaces required a close integration of structure, services and finishes, but gives the benefit of a generous space with extremely low maintenance requirements.
Close attention to detail during the design stage of the project has resulted in the building exceeding the floor areas in the development appraisal. 176 St Vincent Street is a joint development by Norwich Union plc and Grosvenor Estate Holdings Ltd.
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Contract Value
£5M
Area
400m2
Completion
1998
Client
Grosvenor Developments Ltd and Norwich Union Life and Pensions Ltd
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Architects - Reiach and Hall Architects
Client - Grosvenor Developments
Contractor - Melville Dundas
Quantity Surveyor - Doig & Smith
Structural Engineer - Goodson Associates
Services Engineer - K J Tait & Associates
Planning Supervisors - Reiach and Hall Architects
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Awards
Accreditation BREEAM Very Good - 1997 - First Spec office in Scotland to be BREEAM Assessed.
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The clients’ brief for 176 St Vincent Street was to realise the optimum development of the site and to have a flexible building suitable for multi lettings which would attract the best possible calibre of tenant. Additional requirements were that it was to be designed to facilitate ease and low cost of maintenance and should be regarded among the best contemporary office space in Glasgow. Finally, it was also a requirement that the building should adopt a low energy approach to environmental services.
The plan was developed to give clear, rational, and efficient office spaces. This resulted in an essentially column free floorplate.
The low energy requirements of the brief were a significant determinant on all aspects of the building design, from internal finishes to external modelling of the elevations. By adopting a displacement ventilation system in place of the usual VAV or fan coil air conditioning, the design makes a significant departure for speculative offices. This allows the building to have opening windows, giving the users a significant level of control of their own environment. Requirements of this system on the building fabric were embraced enthusiastically in the design, and together with other brief and cityscape requirements gave rise to the built form.
Internal finishes were specified for their durability and quality, applied in a simple manner. The avoidance of suspended ceilings in the open plan floor spaces required a close integration of structure, services and finishes, but gives the benefit of a generous space with extremely low maintenance requirements.
Close attention to detail during the design stage of the project has resulted in the building exceeding the floor areas in the development appraisal. 176 St Vincent Street is a joint development by Norwich Union plc and Grosvenor Estate Holdings Ltd.
Sketchbook
