The new prescription | Features

Boots vs BA: offices of the future compared
Boots head office, Nottinghamshire	British Airways head office, Heathrow
41 000 m² for 2500 staff (including refurbished block) designed by DEGW	120 000 m² for 3000 staff and 1850 cars, designed by Niels Torp
Catalyst for increasing productivity	Same
Open-plan interior; clusters of individual and shared settings	Same
Mobile IT equipment for all staff	Same
Internal “street” forms main spine	Same
Out-of-town complex in parkland	Same
Two rectangular deep-plan blocks with narrow entrance link	Six horseshoe-shaped blocks linked by a glazed street
Two- and three-storey buildings partly sunk into ground, with adjacent surface car parking	Four-storey buildings above two-storey basement car parks, in landscaped parkland
Predominantly natural daylighting through several atria	Natural daylighting in narrow buildings
Deep-plan environment for low energy consumption	Air-conditioned as windows fixed to block aircraft noise
Predicted energy consumption 215 kWh/m2 a year (new block)	Energy consumption figures unavailable
Small restaurant in spine street (main restaurant elsewhere)	Two cafés in spine street, four restaurants overlooking lake
Construction managed (by Mace)	Same
Construction cost including fit-out (new block only) £54m, or £1368/m²	Construction cost including fit-out, car parking and parkland £163m, or £1378/m²

Cost Summary
External Work	£81/m²
Substructure	68/m²
Shell-and-core superstructure	400/m²
Shell-and-core services	134/m²
Category A fit-out, including M&E	358/m²
Category fit-out, including furniture	327/m²
Total construction cost	1368/m²