99-102 Park Drive, Abingdon

97 Milton Park is a 3,500m² speculative office development within a well established Oxfordshire business park. The three-storey concrete frame building is accessed by a fully glazed atrium and can provide space for a single HQ or two occupiers per floor i.e. between one and six tenancies. It won a British Council for Offices (BCO) award in 2008 by impressing the judges with its departure from the standard air conditioning options, whilst still meeting the key BCO specification criteria.

As the client and owner of the building, MEPC focused on minimising maintenance costs, which was helped by opting for simple, proven materials and fi nishes, including facing brick, aluminium curtain walling and exposed concrete soffits.

The thermal mass provided by the exposed concrete soffits works with an underfloor displacement ventilation system to provide low energy cooling. Other features which enhance the building’s environmental performance include solar hot water heating, solar control glazing, rainwater harvesting and a sustainable urban drainage paving solution. This helped achieve a BREEAM rating of "Very Good".