Overbury, the commercial office fit out and refurbishment specialist, has completed a £13.5 million office fit out for Rio Tinto, a leading international mining group, at its new UK offices in London.
The contract saw Overbury transform 107,000 ft2 of the seven-storey building from shell and core to a Category B (CAT B) fit out, comprising open plan office space over five floors, a large reception, restaurant and cafeteria, meeting rooms and a large exhibition space on the ground floor.
As part of the fit out of the exhibition area, eight 7.5 metre-long polished aluminium blades were used to create vertical supports for illuminated glass display cases which showcase interesting artefacts and machinery used within the mining industry.
The arched shape of the building is reflected throughout the fit out, from the installation of sweeping plasterboard walls, which form meeting rooms and small offices, to the fitting of dozens of different types of curved light fittings.
The office building has been stunningly equipped, incorporating raw materials such as bronze, copper and aluminium that reflect Rio Tinto’s core business. Black walnut has been installed in high footfall areas requiring hard-wearing floors. It has also been used as elegant timber panels in restaurant and break-out spaces.
A high emphasis was placed on environmental initiatives throughout the scheme and included the creation of a rainwater harvest tank to recover surface water from the roof of the building for use in washrooms. Presence detection and daylight-saving lighting switches off automatically when rooms are empty. It also dims lights throughout the building when there is good light outside.
Seventy per cent of the project’s waste was re-used or recycled, including the re-use of packaging, cable reels and pallets. Anything that couldn’t be re-used was segregated on-site and sent for recycling.
Structural work on the project included a full mechanical and electrical strip-out and installation of a new tenant generator, fan cooling systems and an uninterruptible power supply.
