Speculative offices in Milton Keynes: Reconciling environmental design with commercial viability

Speculative offices form a large part of the UK property market. This paper presents a design that attempts to reconcile the demands of environmental design and commercial viability. The cost plan and intended programme are standard and the design fulfils all the conventional commercial criteria of an experienced speculative property developer. The concentration has been on achieving a convincing background of permanent elements (form, orientation, envelope, etc.) allowing an additive and adaptable approach to more transient elements (services, space-planning, etc.). Environmental moderation is handled tectonically and used to articulate the buildings and external spaces.