Positioned on the site of a former glass works, the building’s name fittingly reflects both the history of the site and its location adjacent to the floating harbour.
The striking building was to become the new head office for Burges Salmon, one of the UK’s most respected law firms, who were bringing together 650 employees from 3 different office locations within Bristol.
ID:SR’s brief called for a partitioning system that made a real design statement without compromising on performance, given Burges Salmon’s requirement for high levels of acoustic properties, due to the confidential nature of its business. Two systems from Optima, the UK's leading partitioning specialist, provided the answer.
For Burges Salmon’s general office floors, Optima’s 117 single glazed system was specified. Featuring pivoting single glazed doors with Microflush frames, a slim perimeter frame was introduced, with discreet clear NebulaTM dry joints between the glass panels. To accommodate any structural movement of the building, the system featured an innovative extruded aluminium deflection head, developed by Optima, allowing a tolerance of +/-25mm.
Optima’s Revolution 97 mullion-free double glazing partitioning system was the natural choice for the office’s executive floor. For maximum impact within the reception area, a bespoke version of the system was designed.
The glass was flush bonded at the head to create the illusion of ‘floating’ screens and LED lighting was incorporated within the cavity, to stunning effect. Pocket sliding doors were introduced to maximise space within the rooms. Throughout the rest of the executive floor, the Revolution 97 system was used to ensure that the meeting rooms offered high levels of acoustic privacy. The flush bonded head detail continued to be a design feature, with flush bonded double glazed doors within Microflush aluminium door frames perfectly complementing the screens and maintaining the acoustic performance.
Now complete, the fit-out of One Glass Wharf has provided Burges Salmon with a contemporary and functional working environment and demonstrates that an entirely Bristol-based business is capable of achieving a national and international reputation for top quality service standards, while not losing sight of its responsibilities to its surrounding community. The stunning scheme demonstrates both the huge design effort achieved by ID:SR and the commitment of fit-out contractor ISG, and the rest of the project team, to deliver the highest quality project.
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