• Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

  • Images courtesy of LOM

    Images courtesy of LOM

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Commercial

Construction on Santander’s landmark new workplace is underway in Milton Keynes UK

The £150m state-of-the-art campus, called Unity Place and designed by LOM architecture and design, will be a centre for digital banking innovation and will incorporate a range of community facilities

by Georgina Johnston 12 May 2020 Best Use of Technology

Procured by Osborne+Co for Santander and designed by LOM architecture and design, the scheme will bring together Santander’s 6,000 employees who are currently spread across four sites in Milton Keynes. This vibrant workplace will nurture collaboration and support the health and wellbeing of their staff. It has also been conceived to help attract the next generation of talent who will drive the banking sector in the future.

Unity Place is designed to be the focal point for Santander’s UK business and the local community. The scheme includes coworking space for small business and start-ups. Local businesses and the public will be encouraged to use the ground floor facilities including an ‘urban market’, retail outlets, health facilities including; gym, yoga and consultation spaces, a community hall and an auditorium. There is also a rooftop running track and café-restaurant complete with a terrace. 

Sustainability and staff wellbeing are core objectives for the project; he scheme is designed to achieve a WELL ‘Gold’ Certification, which is a measure of the building’s impact on health and wellbeing. The building is also designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for its environmental sustainability performance and will exceed Building Regulation requirements by reducing CO2 emissions by a further 20%. It includes solar panels on the roof and uses brise soleil on the building façade to help maximise natural daylight, while reducing solar heat gain.

The day-to-day operation of the building will be supported by a dedicated ‘campus app’, allowing users to book and manage rooms and other spaces and browse campus events.

Milton Keynes is already one the UK’s leading technology centres and with a number of innovative education and training providers on our doorstep, we hope it will be a real magnet for technology talent. Once complete, the campus will be a state-of-the-art workplace which reflects our culture and our vision for the future. It will be a world-class home for Santander which both our colleagues and the local community can take pride in.

N. Bostock, Chief Executive, Santander UK

The project is being delivered by developer Osborne+Co, architects LOM architecture and design, engineers WSP, planning consultants Deloitte and project and cost managers Turner & Townsend.

LOM’s design for the eight storey building comprises four blocks connected by three atria and includes two basement levels providing plant space and parking. It is designed to be easily adaptable to ensure that it is sustainable in the long term. For example, the coworking area can expand or contract to accommodate changes in Santander’s space demands and the building can be subdivided for separate tenancies.

Designed as a large, open public space, the ‘urban market’ on the ground floor will offer a wide variety of food and beverage options to staff and the public. These outlets also offer scope for local businesses. 

Coworking space is located on the first floor and the businesses using this space will be able to access support from Santander’s commercial banking team who will be based in the same area. The upper floors provide workspace for Santander staff who will also have access to a rooftop running and walking track and terrace that hosts fitness and wellbeing classes. The rooftop features a publicly accessible restaurant/bar area and terrace.

Parking for 900 cars and spaces for 560 bicycles are located on the ground floor and basement levels. Showers, changing and bicycle maintenance facilities are also provided. Through this scheme, Santander is actively encouraging staff to use more sustainable modes of transportation such as walking, cycling and public transport, the development is a few minutes’ walk from Milton Keynes rail station and well served by bus routes.

LOM is currently developing a ‘coding’ theme for the interiors that is inspired by the nearby Bletchley Park, home to the famous World War Two Codebreakers.

Some 5,000 workstations will be accommodated across 37,000m² of open-plan workspace. Given the significant number of employees to be supported under one roof, we’ve designed a variety of work settings to support both desk-based and more agile working. Spaces are planned as ‘neighbourhoods’ of around 100-125 people who share common facilities to give them a sense of belonging and opportunities to collaborate. Placemaking and ensuring that the building is welcoming to the local community is a key part of the brief. We have responded to this by designing active glazed frontages that look out to newly landscaped public space surrounding the building and by creating a lively internal street and ‘urban market’ on the ground floor.

R. Hutchinson, Director, LOM

Applying best in class design principles and the very latest in workplace thinking at its core, Unity Place has been devised to enhance and facilitate innovation and creativity in the work environment with a particular focus on  sustainability and staff wellbeing.

J. Osborne, Co-founder, Osborne+Co

Planning approval for the 81,650m² development was granted by Milton Keynes Council in July 2019 and a contractor for the build will be announced shortly. The development officially broke ground in February 2020 and is anticipated to open in Autumn 2022. 


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