Member Article

AEW design ‘dreamland’ headquarters for Moneypenny

Manchester architects AEW have been appointed to create a new £15 million headquarters for Moneypenny, the UK’s leading telephone answering specialist, which aims to rival the head offices of the likes of Google and Apple.

The new development – which features a tree house, village pub, nature trails, orchards, vegetable gardens and spectacular village views, will be created on a ten acre ‘dreamland’ plot at the Western Gateway site in Wrexham.

As every inch of the 91,000 sq ft building has been designed to cater for the needs of Moneypenny’s employees and clients, expert sound engineers are using bespoke technology to absorb sound and eliminate background noise.

Ed Reeves, co-founder and director of Moneypenny, has been leading the project.

He said: “We’re thrilled to unveil the designs for our new headquarters. This marks the start of an exciting new stage in Moneypenny’s life and we’re confident it will be one of the most advanced buildings of its kind in the UK.

“We literally sat down with a blank piece of paper and asked ourselves what we could do with these ten acres of dream greenfield land. The answer was to create our ideal home – somewhere exciting and innovative, yet practical.

“The manufacturing industry has long been building commercial premises to suit its needs, but up until now, most offices just follow a standard template. We wanted to change this and rip up the rule book.”

Dave George, associate director of AEW, said: “Office designs for occupiers need to focus on the specific needs of the user and their employees. Staff want accessibility and amenities as well as internal space that gives them the right balance of productivity and downtime.

“For Moneypenny, we have been very lucky to work with a forward-thinking client who wanted their new HQ designing from the inside out, which bucks the trend of institutional, ‘typical’ shell, core and uniform floorplates. The building is designed around the fundamental principal of placing staff welfare and client needs first.”

The new campus will also be one of the most environmentally sustainable commercial projects in the country. By using rainwater recycling, solar energy, ground source heating and natural ventilation for climate control, the company aims to be almost entirely self-sufficient.

Several other North West companies have been appointed to work on the development, including Pochin’s Construction and Avid Property Consultants in Cheshire, Cundall and Carolyn Willitts in Manchester, and Todd and Ledson Construction Consultants in Liverpool.

Jonathan Pochin, managing director of Pochin’s Construction, said: “We are proud to be the contractor of choice for this major milestone in the development of Moneypenny. The business has a fantastic vision to create an imaginative and forward-thinking office campus, and we are excited to be able to deliver it for them”.

Work is expected to be finished on the development in spring 2016.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .