Kier Southern - Offices Development - Hertfordshire

Date: 29 Aug 2008

A stylish new corporate headquarters for Three Valleys Water, being built by Kier Southern on the site of the legendary De Havilland aircraft factory, is getting ready for take-off.

The latest addition to the skyline at international property group Goodman's Hatfield Business Park in Hertfordshire is nearing completion and is on target to be handed over this autumn, ready for the water company to prepare for relocation from its offices in nearby Bishops Rise and Watford next spring.

The regional contractor, part of the Kier Group, is carrying out the £16m design and build project for Goodman, a long-standing client. Kier Building Services Engineers, another Kier Group company, is undertaking the design and installation of heating/cooling systems and other mechanical and electrical services.

The 86,000 sq ft structure is clad in clear-glazed curtain walling, interspersed with smooth-faced precast concrete panels extending the full height of the building. Solar shading is afforded by horizontal and vertical brise soleil independently supported by an elegant framework of tubular steel.

Centrepiece of the dazzling structure is the front entrance (pictured above), the doors of which form part of a sweeping curve of virtually seamless clear glazing rising three storeys high, enclosing a Winter Garden - an outside space brought inside.

Kier Southern's project manager, Joe Murphy, said: "This building scheme has many exceptional features. The Winter Garden will be a soaring open space, leading to a reception area that is two storeys high. The external concrete facades are made up of six-tonne factory-made precast sections that have been delivered to site, then lifted by crane, one above the other, up to 18m in height, and tied into the structural steel frame."

Karen Yorath, project manager for Three Valleys Water, said: "We've worked really closely with both Goodman and Kier Southern to ensure that we have a Head Office which enables our employees to meet the future needs of the business and our customers.

"Our new home will bring together over 1,000 employees who currently work at two separate sites. We have just reached a milestone in terms of the construction of the building and now we need to ensure that the building is kitted out with all of the necessary modern infrastructure so that when we move to our new home in May 2009 we are ready to reap the benefits of a new and modern environment."

The stylish new corporate headquarters for Three Valleys Water