The retrofit and regeneration of a 1970s office building known as the ‘Hanging Gardens of Basingstoke’ has been completed, with three Bath architecture firms playing key roles.
Grade II listed Plant Basingstoke, pictured – formerly known as Mountbatten House and considered one of Britain's 15 most important listed modern buildings – was commissioned in 1973 as the head office of a paper manufacturer.
Designed by Peter Foggo and Arup Associates Group 2 with pre-eminent garden designer, James Russell earned its nickname – and standing as an icon of the Hampshire town – due to its roof gardens and terraces that blanketed its six levels of commercial workspace.
Planning approval and listed building consent for its extensive regeneration was obtained by Bath-headquartered national architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) which subsequently monitored planning and listed building issues through construction.
Bath-based landscape architecture practice Grant Associates. best known as lead designers of Singapore’s world-recognised Gardens by the Bay, led on the full renewal of the building’s historic gardens.
The gardens and building were both separately listed by English Heritage in 2015 for their design excellence and significance within British modernist architecture and horticulture.
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios partner Ian Taylor said: “I am immensely proud of the role FCBStudios has played in extending the life of this seminal building designed over 50 years ago by Peter Foggo’s group 2 at Arup Associates, with whom I worked in the 1980s.
“The building design’s prescience in creating contact with, and access to, nature within all the office spaces on all levels created a legacy that even now appears forward thinking.
“Our work focused on preserving the unique character of Foggo’s original design while creating a framework that balances function with environmental responsibility.
“Plant now stands as a benchmark for retrofitting and regeneration, a space where people and nature thrive in harmony, embodying the values we strive for in every project.”
Grant Associates designed the landscape to stage 4, and obtained planning approval and listed consent in 2019, before moving to a client monitoring role through construction.
Box-based Studio Knight Stokoe obtained planning and listed building consent for an amended landscape scheme last year based on the principles established by Grant Associates and completed the amended detailed design.
Studio Knight Stokoe and London-based Twelve Architects worked closely with the client Mactaggart Family & Partners, developer Longstock Capital and contractor CField Construction to complete the Grant Associates and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios design.
The result has been to deliver and reinstate the building’s original pioneering design intent – blending nature, wellbeing and the workplace seamlessly.
Additional new facilities, including a cafe, gym, shower and changing rooms, secure cycle storage, and a multi-purpose function space have been incorporated to meet the needs of modern tenants.
More than 22,500 new plants were introduced along with 86 new trees to complement those already on the site.
