Pictured. Katie Whell, Operations Director with Pure Offices and Scott Martin, Co-Director of BUD Architects, Yolanda Wringe Business centre manager (Glasses)
A £3.8m transformation of Diageo’s former Scottish headquarters has created Edinburgh’s newest grade-A flexible office space.
Spanning more than 33,000 square feet, Pure Offices at Edinburgh Park consists of 90 serviced office suites, meeting rooms and modern lounges across three floors – and follows a comprehensive redesign by specialist fit out firm, Estilo and locally-based BUD Architecture.
Located just metres from Edinburgh Park Central tram station, the building welcomes its first occupiers over the coming weeks.
It is the latest offering in the city from Reading-headquartered Pure, which also operates The Bonnington Bond and Sugar Bond offices in Leith and is setting out ambitious plans for a post-COVID landscape.
Katie Whell, Operations Director with Pure Offices, said: “We couldn’t be happier with the finished result here at Edinburgh Park. While it is clearly a challenging time for all, we are excited to launch our brand new office development and believe it’s what businesses will increasingly turn to as they look for more flexible alternatives to city centre offices and leased space.
“We believe larger firms looking to consolidate office space while accommodating a blend of home working will be among those attracted to the centre.
“Likewise, following recent economic turbulence we’re anticipating a surge in start-up activity. We can cater for them perfectly and often help them seamlessly expand into larger suites as they grow.”
Occupiers moving into Pure Offices Edinburgh Park will benefit from the support of an on-site team who take care of running the centre, providing excellent service. All the offices have “plug and play” internet, with ultra-fast fibre broadband connectivity, on-site parking – and unmatched transport links from the tram line, train line and close proximity to the M8, city bypass and airport.
The refit has seen the building gutted and rebuilt, with a new entranceway designed and wayfinding “trail” from the tram stop and 3 impressive business lounges. Individual office suites can fit teams from one to 100 in size.
As well as overseeing much of the design, Scott Martin, Co-Director of BUD Architecture, provided technical assistance throughout.
His Edinburgh practice is renowned for its work on commercial, residential and healthcare projects, with clients including University of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian and Scottish Water.
He said: “As occupiers in a serviced office ourselves we’ve seen this from the outside looking in and the inside looking out.
“We pride ourselves as a practice on working almost exclusively with repeat clients or referrals from previous clients and have therefore been very impressed with the team at Pure Office’s mindset. Every decision has been about the wellbeing of their clients and it’s clear they want to keep them happy and with them for a long time.
“This was already a very impressive office building with a strong character and an almost art-deco appearance. We’ve redesigned the entrance with a new ‘L’ shaped canopy which creates a more welcoming, clearly defined entrance point and compliments the character of the existing building.
“We also improved the short journey from the tram stop too, with an improved pathway and vertical timber fencing creating a ‘cookie crumb’ wayfinding trail leading to and tying in with the new entrance way.”
Katy Francioso, Lead Designer with Estilo, said: “The team at Pure always want to push the boat out – making offices that feel truly “grown-up”. Highly professional spaces that are anything but bland.
“It’s given us a lot of scope. We’ve really run with bringing the outdoors in, with huge amounts of foliage complementing the teals, greens and blues that run throughout – and inspired by the Pentland Hills that you can see from the office.
“We’ve even gone to the lengths of having silver birch tree trunks as divider screens in the lounge.
“Clearly, Covid-19 has been front and centre of the fit-out process. Thankfully the interior here allows you to clearly see where people are and keep your distance easily in shared areas. We’ve been able to use this to our advantage, for instance, ensuring hand sanitisers and cleaning equipment are located prominently and accessibly.”
Pure Offices has 21 business centres in the UK and prides itself on providing a friendly and personalised solution. By carefully designing its locations to maximise wellbeing in the workplace through attractive lounges and smart offices with natural light and ventilation, it has created modern offices built to meet the demands of the modern business workplace.
For more information on Edinburgh Park, please visit https://www.pureoffices.co.uk/locations/lochside/ or call Yolanda Wringe on 0131 581 5331
