Argent unveils first office blocks at £5bn Brent Cross site

Argent Related has revealed designs for the first three office buildings at its £5bn Brent Cross Town development in north London.The offices are located next to 50 acres of parks and playing fields along with 6,700 new homes, restaurants, leisure, shops, sport facilities, schools and student accommodation.The first 550,000 sq ft of office space at Brent Cross Town will bring together innovative companies, academic organisations, start-ups and scale-ups to “create a new, market-leading business ecosystem that on completion will total some 3m sq ft of space for 25,000 workers.”The first three buildings are positioned around a new main square and adjacent to the entrance of the new Brent Cross West station that will be completed in 2022.The new office buildingsNumber 2 Brent Cross Town is set to be a factory for new ideas and innovation. Its design by HawkinsBrown architects has 103,000 sq ft of flexible floorplates, allowing start-up and scale-up businesses to become part of a collaborative community of creators. The seven-metre-high ground floor space is accessible to the public, encouraging residents and visitors to engage with the work inside through events and exhibitions. This building has a timber structure and will use zero carbon heating and cooling systems.Number 3 Brent Cross Town is designed by ShedKM architects and provides 221,000 sq ft of office space, with an expansive double height reception offering easy access from the station entrance. Design features include a timber floor structure, flexible open floorplates leading onto balconies and a striking warehouse-style roof pavilion with terraces and far-reaching views of the parks and Hampstead Heath beyond.Number 4 is Brent Cross Town’s beacon timber-framed building designed by Studio Egret West architects, providing 250,000 sq ft of thoughtfully considered, flexible and well-lit floorplates, with a top-floor ‘lantern’ feature and a generous wrap-around rooftop balcony with panoramic views over the city. If required, numbers 3 and 4 can be connected to provide c. 500,000 sq ft of space, with expansive c. 45,000 sq ft floorplates. Their position at the gateway to Brent Cross Town suits major organisations with an outward-looking focus who value easy links to both central London and the rest of the UK.