Designed, engineered and occupied by Atkins, the Hub has been awarded a BREEAM Excellent rating. Designed and engineered as a showcase for carbon critical design – a term coined by Atkins to highlight the urgent need to make reduction of carbon a fundamental part of all engineering projects – the company has reduced overall carbon dioxide emissions by 35% by putting carbon critical design into practice at the Hub.
Martin Pease, Atkins lead architect for the project, says that this building was designed, engineered and built on time and on budget with carbon reduction at the top of the agenda. The key features of the Hub include chilled beams and automated opening windows, energy-efficient lighting, ground source heat pump and rainwater harvesting. A green travel plan provides 120 cycle spaces, 28 showers and five dedicated bus routes for Atkins employees. The latest carbon assessment of staff commuting, shows a travel carbon emission reduction per employee of 20% due to the switch from private cars to bus, cycles and car share.
The Hub is the base for a full range of Atkins’ multidisciplinary design and engineering skills, servicing highways and transportation, building services, aerospace, defense, communications, and water and environment sectors. The office is also home to Atkins’ project management and cost consultancy subsidiary Faithful+Gould, who was also involved in the project representing Atkins in its relationship with the landlord, supporting the BREEAM submission, developing the fit-out requirements, and overseeing the migration management of 960 staff from five locations over four weekends.
