WHAT: Quirky new London premises for the drinks company Red Bull. Staff can move between floors using either a floating staircase or a slide. Once they arrive, they can play ping pong in meeting areas or marvel at a media screen which spans three storeys. They can also hang out in the ‘social zone’, where a bar and a kitchen overlook a combination of seating and tables, which feature the inflatable DoNut range by Belgian firm Extremis and tables by Moooi.

WHO: Project manager: AYH, quantity surveyor: Tribal Group, architect: Jump Studios, contractor: Ibex Interiors.

HOW: Phil Harcus, business unit director, AYH, outlines three main challenges. “The initial one was to convince the landlord to allow us to build the staircase voids and the media wall. We had many meetings with lawyers, but eventually we got the landlord’s approval before signing the lease,” he says.

“Due to the busy location, all of the major deliveries happened at night. There was no space for hoisting as the office is on a one-way street opposite a theatre, so a lot of stuff had to be carried up three flights of stairs,” he explains.

“Information on the existing base build was lacking. Google occupied the building and it would not let us in to survey it. We only had three hours to look at it before starting work, so there were a few surprises when we actually got in there. But, we finished on time and on budget.”

HOW MUCH: £2m overall, including £1.5m construction costs.

CONTRACT: Standard JCT 1998

HOW BIG: 1460m2

WHEN: Red Bull moved into the office on 13 March. Construction took four months.

RESULT: “The staff were highly impressed; they love it. You walk in and you see two people having a meeting, but playing table tennis at the same time. They are a very young lot the average age is 28 so these features are not just gimmicks, they really get used” – Phil Harcus

Source

QS News