Client: Development Securities
Location: Southampton
Construction Value: £28.5 million

DLA produced this bid-winning design for Development Securities with a team comprising AYH, Atkins, and CJP Engineers. Described as Southampton's biggest ever office letting, the scheme comprises 140,000 sqft of prime office space arranged over six storeys, designed in response to a brief organised by Carnival PLC, the occupiers of the proposed building.

The challenge was to create a headquarters building of a quality expected by a FTSE 100 company, while working to a budget and rental value appropriate to a city-edge location in Southampton. The solution is an efficient design which avoids opulence or grandeur, focusing instead on providing a welcoming and usable environment for Carnival staff.

Special attention was paid to providing staff break-out space, meeting areas, and encouraging interaction between departments. Ability to sub-divide the building at a later date is also provided, giving Carnival the assurance that the building is sufficiently future-proofed by flexibility. A package of optional enhancements were offered as part of the design, providing Carnival with the confidence they needed to select this scheme above entries from the other competing consortia. This project was developed through to completion by another team retaining many of the features of the original design.