As at Stockley, high-spec office pavilions are set in lush parkland, overlooking an artificial lake. But the suburban setting means that density can be increased, so that the pavilions are four-storey rather than two or three, and face each other across a central street. And the convenient location next to a Tube station means that only 15% of employees require car parking facilities. These are largely tucked below the office buildings.
Costing £90m, Chiswick Park is an altogether more controlled affair than its precursor – numerous placards bear the Orwellian command "enjoy-work.com" – and the construction of the eight Richard Rogers Partnership-designed rectilinear office buildings in steel and glass was ruthlessly standardised.
This meant that each block was built and fitted out in a record 40 weeks. It has also boosted the efficiency of the offices' floor space to a net-to-gross ratio of 87%. The buildings have even been shorn of Rogers' trademark flourishes of colour, leaving sheer but exquisitely detailed curtain walls enlivened only by automatic sun awnings and eaves-level canopies of aerofoil-shaped aluminium louvres.
As well as the sumptuous instant parkland of mature redwoods, gingkos and magnolias, and a sizeable waterfall, office workers will be seduced by barbecues, volleyball matches, bands and "London's most cryptic treasure hunt".
At Chiswick Park, Lipton promises its tenant companies a working environment so pleasant that workers on the site become more productive. This logic is spelled out to prospective tenants in the marketing brochure: "If people enjoy work, they do better work. If they do better work, you have a better business." Which is, of course, the whole point …
Credits
developer Stanhope architect Richard Rogers Partnership structural & services engineer Arup landscape architect West 8 construction manager Bovis Lend Lease cost consultant Davis Langdon & Everest
