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Boots vs BA: offices of the future compared
Boots head office,
Nottinghamshire
British Airways head office,
Heathrow
41 000 m2 for 2500 staff
(including refurbished block)
designed by DEGW
120 000 m2 for 3000 staff and
1850 cars, designed by
Niels Torp
Catalyst for increasing productivity Same
Open-plan interior; clusters of
individual and shared settings
Same
Mobile IT equipment for all staff Same
Internal “street” forms main spine Same
Out-of-town complex in parkland Same
Two rectangular deep-plan
blocks with narrow entrance link
Six horseshoe-shaped blocks
linked by a glazed street
Two- and three-storey buildings
partly sunk into ground, with
adjacent surface car parking
Four-storey buildings above
two-storey basement car parks,
in landscaped parkland
Predominantly natural daylighting
through several atria
Natural daylighting in narrow
buildings
Deep-plan environment for low
energy consumption
Air-conditioned as windows fixed
to block aircraft noise
Predicted energy consumption
215 kWh/m2 a year (new block)
Energy consumption figures
unavailable
Small restaurant in spine street
(main restaurant elsewhere)
Two cafés in spine street, four
restaurants overlooking lake
Construction managed (by Mace) Same
Construction cost including fit-out
(new block only) £54m, or
£1368/m2
Construction cost including
fit-out, car parking and parkland
£163m, or £1378/m2
 
Cost Summary
External Work £81/m2
Substructure 68/m2
Shell-and-core superstructure 400/m2
Shell-and-core services 134/m2
Category A fit-out, including M&E 358/m2
Category fit-out, including furniture 327/m2
Total construction cost 1368/m2