Premier Construction

Immediate Media Eagle House

Immediate Media
Written by Roma Publications

Eagle House – Immediate Media

Immediate Media, a special interest content platform company, with its multiple diverse constituent titles, were looking for a spatial solution which could provide a common structure and connectivity, a sense of collective energy and common purpose. Immediate wanted a space to articulate brand identity, provide a sense of belonging and at the same time provide each of the individual teams with a high degree of autonomy in inhibiting their respective ‘neighbourhoods’ and expression of their creativity and character; whilst ensuring all teams are equally supported with best possible environmental conditions: ample daylight (new glazing), fresh air & cooling (new mechanical infrastructure) and new, well distributed ancillary facilities.

Immediate wanted a building which works as a whole, is inhabited and saturated with creativity and activity from the basement to the roof, without areas with ‘back office’ feel and with minimum barriers in between.

One of the key challenges faced by designers Lorenc Design was the building itself. Eagle house was a vertical five storey, 1930s structure with several layers of previous fit outs across labyrinthine floor plates, all disconnected from each other. There were however several key features which revealed the building’s great potential: a light well in the centre of the building’s footprint, vast basement spaces, robust structure and great corner presence in one of Bristol’s more prominent locations. The solution to achieve Immediate’s vision involved substantial interventions within the building fabric. For example, the lightwell was converted into a glazed atrium. Along with new feature accommodation staircase, the atrium has become a central spine of the building linking key shared spaces on each floor and providing immediate connection between floors; it also offers shared ‘floating’ informal meeting pods at half landings. The internal facades of the atrium have been opened up to allow more daylight and increase visibility across floor plates.

After a successful completion of the planning process, a new fully working floor was also added on top of the existing stack to meet Immediate’s expansion space demand. A new feature Colston Avenue entrance was also created, along with the building’s new circulation scheme and fire strategy.

Large openings were created on the ground floor to utilise the cavernous basement spaces as a daylight-flooded prime shared floor and to create multifunctional event space for the whole company, with tiered seating, media wall and staff café at the base of the atrium.

Particular attention was also given to the experience of the company’s growing cycling population. Rather than using a rear unsightly entrance typical of office buildings, the cyclists arrive through the main reception and proceed via a purpose built ramp to a dedicated bike park linked to staff cafĂ©.

One of the most important factors of the new workplace concept for Immediate was the increase in the amount of shared space and types of collaborative and agile work settings throughout the building. The programme included various sized formal and informal meeting rooms, semi-enclosed booths, open pods and brainstorming and breakout areas or quiet rooms. This greatly enhances and diversifies the interactions and communication between staff and creates an environment conductive to creative work – something which is so vital to Immediate.

Immediate Media’s output is a wealth of images, words, ideas information and emotions. Combined with predominantly young demographics and Bristolian local pride there is a very unique vibe about the company, which Lorenc tried to cherish and preserve, rather than supress with corporate workplace design principles or traditional space metrics. Lorenc wholeheartedly supported the teams’ initiative in ‘domesticating’ their neighbourhoods with their own collateral and memorabilia.

They also engaged with Immediate’s marketing team in creating a building-wide environmental graphics scheme which draws on abstracted-out landmarks and visual patters of Bristol and adds another lawyer of excitement and meaning to the scheme.

Immediate Media

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Roma Publications