Planning Approval for Atom Bank Offices
Rivergreen Developments has received planning permission from Durham County Council for a 4,242 sq m commercial office building to be constructed over three storeys at Aykley Heads, Durham City, as headquarters for the new Atom Bank, the UK’s first wholly digital bank.
Designed by award-winning Newcastle architects, Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall (JDDK) Ltd, the high quality, BREEAM outstanding, open plan office environment is designed to promote collaborative working and flexibility for future use whilst still providing characterful accommodation for employees working there. The building’s design is oriented to offer views to the east and west through the gable ends which maximise daylight into the office space whilst the U shape design with two areas of open plan offices on each floor split by a central core containing support services. A 375 sq m basement area contains a gym, delivery area, plant room and vault.
JDDK Director, Kevin Turnbull, commented, “The brief was for a highly sustainable and flexible office building on the Aykley Heads Estate which already has a variety of office accommodation, including our own Rivergreen Centre, designed in 2007. The site itself slopes slightly from North to South which we were able to use to reduce the massing of the building and to incorporate an accessible basement level. The design also retains as many of the existing trees as possible and uses them to not only provide shading but also to screen the building and blur the boundaries between the existing context and building structure.”
