As an integral part of the wider Boho masterplan BOHO X with 60,000ft2 of grade ‘A’ office space looks to provide a bold frontage to a key site within the Boho zone. A highly legible plan form with a simple programme of spaces respond directly to the clients brief for a flexible and adaptable internal environment to suit new digital opportunities.
The proposed building wraps around a central atrium providing a dramatic arrival into the building, floor plates are designed to be flexible allowing for the subdivision of the space to provide for multiple occupants or a single user. Orientated around an efficient shared central access and service core to all floors, maximising lettable area and optimising service routes to the floor plates.
A ground floor shared café and workspace are positioned to spill out into a new urban orchard providing a high-quality contemporary landscape. The new office block will also boast a gym, studio, lecture theatre, rooftop bar and external terrace contributing to the positive health and well-being of the building occupants and distinguishing itself as the market leader in modern office space.
The building entrance elevation shows the material differentiation between the brickwork to the lower block in grey, and the taller block in buff, an aesthetic carried around to the rear and side elevations to emphasise the variation in height of the building roof-line.
A varied palette to the principal elevation facing the new avenue, creating a focus of interest and a visual splitting of the building through its vertical planes. The demarcation in material between the higher and lower blocks on the principal façade continues onto the northern and eastern elevations, splitting the building into two distinct expanses of buff and grey brick; while the upper and lower blocks are split by material, varied brick bay detailing wraps the building, providing subtle visual continuity; projecting headers, splayed bays and piers are all used to enhance the brickwork.
The Brief was simply to achieve a very high-quality office to bring into focus the rest of the Boho masterplan. The scale, massing and modern design of this building sets it apart from the previous neighbouring Boho buildings, and indeed a lot of the architecture of Middlesbrough.
Although the building had to meet the commercial objectives of a speculative office development it achieves this whilst delivering very efficient, flexible and above all attractive interior spaces. Flexible, open plan office space with excellent natural light is achieved and the simplicity and efficiency of the layout has only been achieved by a rigorous and very carefully planned core and internal arrangement with detailed coordination of architecture, services, and structure; ultimately resulting in a single occupancy let for the entire building prior to Practical Completion.
