This office building enjoys a stunning location on the edge of the river Clyst with views over the salt marshes of Topsham. Our client bought the site with planning consent for a ‘shed’. pdm Design was charged with revisiting this rather banal consent and “Seeing what you can do with it” as the client put it!

It became clear a larger more responsive and “landmark” building could be built here; the existing consent was a real missed opportunity.

The site offered many constraints, all of which we were able to resolve by understanding the various concerns of all parties. It adjoins a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) a SPA (Special Protection Area) and is a European Site of Special Interest. The wild fowl that breed here are always a huge attraction, with many bird watchers traveling from afar to see the various wading birds in their estuarine habitat.
The distinctive glazed atria mitigates the concerns raised by English Nature that migratory birds may fly into a wall of glass. To solve this problem we sloped the solar reflective glazing and created a view that also works better optically.

This glazed area forms a two-storey reception for the office wings. These offices benefit from large flexible working spaces that maximize the views around the River Clyst and down to the Exe.

Unit A

The scheme was designed to incorporate many ‘green’ technologies: a ground source heat pump under the car park, recycled newspaper insulation and solar thermal collectors. A rainwater attenuation system was required as the site has flooded on previous occasions due to a ‘tide locking’ effect.

The finished building is now fully let and the owners very pleased with the results. As a design exercise, this project demonstrates what pdm Design can do given a restricted brief and illustrates the fact that large buildings can be a sensitive response to context. We revisited the idea of the consent against the use classes granted and created a modern landmark building that is flexible and sits well in the landscape.

The problem here was how to make the ubiquitous industrial unit so much more. This 1000 sqm building is an example of revisiting the “shed” as a building type and elevating the details and materials to a new level whilst still being economical and efficient. With a little thought and care these big boxes can be made more attractive places to work in and visit. The tenants have said how pleased they are to be in such a special building.

With any large building there can be a loss of sensitivity, scale and repetition can be alienating. We have tried to create a creative and practical workspace, that is industrial without being soulless. A simple palette of good quality materials well executed is the key. This simple idea needs control and supervision.