Major Birmingham refurbishment achieves high environmental standards

07 May, 2007

Refurbished nearly 70 years after it was originally built, Baskerville House in Birmingham has achieved a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating.

The refurbishment of the Grade 2 listed Baskerville House in Birmingham, dating from 1939, includes such services as chilled ceilings and beams, displacement ventilation via a pressurised floor and lighting controls to maximise the use of daylight. This £30 million project offers 18 000 m2 of top-quality office space. This building was originally designed as municipal offices and named after the famous Birmingham type founder and printer John Baskerville. Two storeys have been added to the original five, with a dramatic glazed roof creating two more office floors. The interior features high-specification floorplates wrapped around two glass atria created at the heart of the building to allow light from the glass roof to enter the space. Commissioned by Targetfollow, Hoare Lea has provided specialist mechanical, electrical, lift, public-health, fire, lighting and acoustic design services. The practice worked directly for the client and main contractor as part of a novation agreement. Specialist fire-engineering services were provided by Hoare Lea Fire. The design allows an increase in occupant density and achieved a economical fire-engineering solution using phased voice evacuation and forced ventilation in the atrium. Baskerville House has achieved a ‘very-good’ BREEAM rating.

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