Twelve Architects and Studio Knight Stokoe also on team for refurbishment of grade II-listed office complex
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Twelve Architects have completed a retrofit and renewal of Peter Foggo’s grade II-listed Mountbatten House office complex in Basingstoke.
Completed in 1976, the six-storey building is considered one of the most significant examples of British modernist architecture outside London.
Designed by Foggo and Arup Associates Group 2, the team behind the Broadgate estate in the City of London, it was originally built as an office for paper manufacturers Wiggins Teape and known as Gateway House.
The building is famed for its sprawling and interlocking stepped terraces and courtyards, topped with extensive roof gardens designed by James Russell which have earned it the local nickname the “Hanging Gardens of Basingstoke”.
Now renamed Plant, the building has been brought up to modern standards by main contractor CField Construction for Mactaggart Family & Partners, the client, and developer Longstock Capital.
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and landscape architect Grant Associates drew up the initial design from RIBA stages 1 to 3 before moving into monitoring roles with Twelve Architects and landscape practice Studio Knight Stokoe taking over for stages 4 to 6.
Prominent interventions have included an expanded building entrance and reception area with a new helical staircase, aiming to enhance the arrival experience and establish a stronger visual connection to the refurbished gardens.
Double height spaces have been created inside to provide a greater sense of openness and natural light, while later additions including suspended ceilings have been removed to reveal the building’s coffered slab structure and cruciform columns.
The curtain wall system has also been refurbished to improve the building’s thermal performance and its MEP systems have been upgraded in order to target a BREEAM Outstanding certification, while new facilities have been added including a gym, cafe, shower and changing rooms, cycle storage and a multi-purpose function space.
The roof gardens have been brought back to life with new level access across all floors, original paving removed, catalogued, restored and then put back into place, new seating areas added and a deteriorating pond in a courtyard replaced with a sculpted water feature.
More than 22,500 plants, including 86 trees, have been added to the gardens, influenced by Russell’s original handwritten planting lists contained in the archives of the University of York.
Longstock Capital co-founder Hugo Denee said the project team had captured the original spirit of the building, which he said had been transformed into “a perfect example of what occupiers require in terms of design aesthetic, environmental credentials and amenities”.
FCBS partner Ian Taylor said the building’s original emphasis on providing access to nature in the workplace had “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,” he added.
“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.”
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