One Hundred

The existing building sits at a busy road intersection in the heart of Bristol city-centre, a short walk from Bristol Temple Meads train station. The road intersection has recently undergone major improvement works that now reposition and re-direct much of the traffic flows towards the site when travelling from the south. As a result, the building now benefits from an improved profile to the south, with better sightlines of the building now created from both foot and vehicular routes.

To create a high-quality development where it enhances the local environment as well as the internal workplace for its occupants. The plan is to improve the building’s aesthetic appearance in this important city centre site. The intention is to create a high-quality workspace that suits occupier’s needs and promotes health and well-being through design. The internal design of the building will embrace the refurbishment philosophy and seek to celebrate the old and the new. Instead of covering or blurring the elements, old and new will be united through considered interface detailing.

The Victoria Street/Main Entrance elevation has been designed to draw upon architectural techniques found on some of Victoria Street’s historic buildings. The elevation is created primarily from terracotta cladding panels finished in a white or grey colour, with panels adopting either a smooth or textured surface. This variation in texture provides a certain hierarchy to the elevation as your eye is drawn up the elevation. We see this change in texture and tone also used in the architectural language of some of the historic buildings further up Victoria Street, with window reveals often adopting decorative features or changes in colour.

A collaborative approach has been adopted to ensure that all the architecture and engineering disciplines are fully coordinated. Extensive surveys were carried out to establish a base point for the design. Extending the building by approximately five meters into the pavement area required close dialogue with the local authority and highways department.

A fabric fits approach has been adopted, improving the building overall thermal performance, air permeability and energy efficiency. PV cells provide onsite renewable energy.

The retro first approach exemplifies sustainable development, most of the building was successfully retained, refurbished and extended, and will bring this building back in to full use.

Pedestrian access will principally be achieved via the building’s main entrance located on Victoria Street. The main entrance will lead into the building’s reception area where building personnel will be on hand to greet visitors and building users. The reception spaces offer a sanctuary to the building and combine circulation with amenity to create an active connection between the occupiers and the busy street scape.

At the heart of the building's repurposing are the amenity facilities that support the occupants. Extensive cycle storage, services and a repair workshop are provided. The building's existing car park has been fully replaced with spaces that support green travel and activity, promoting and supporting health and wellbeing for the occupiers.

This high quality office development enhances the local environment and improves the aesthetic appearance of this important site within the city centre. It is important to develop a building that both responds to the local context in terms of use, amount, layout, scale, appearance, access and landscape. A sustainable building that adds quality to our streetscape and brings opportunity.