Creative Exchange, St Neots
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Creative Exchange, corner view
Tim Soar Download Original
Shared workspaces for West Cambridgeshire's emerging creative workers
The four-storey Creative Exchange is adjacent to Longsands College, which specialises in technology, media and the arts. The Exchange serves up to 20 fledgling firms working in these areas, with the opportunity for exchange of ideas with college students, as well as with each other.
The pillars of the reinforced concrete armature avoid the corners, allowing glass to determine the primary envelope. Exterior larch boarding will weather to a light grey, and the rooms’ interiors are varnished plywood.
Entry is from the east and the public rooms oriented north, to the park. The south facade above the first floor is blind, to prevent overlooking the neighbours’ gardens; the Exchange has its own roof garden.
Data
- Begun: Oct 2008
- Completed: Sep 2009
- Sector: Office
- Total cost: £1.4M
- Tender date: Jul 2007
- Procurement: JCT 98 Intermediate Contract. Single-stage tender with negotiations
- CO2 Emissions: 16kg/m2/year
- Address: Creative Exchange, Longsands Campus, Longsands Road, St Neots, PE19 1TE, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: 5th Studio
- Client: Huntingdonshire District Council
- Structural engineer: Scott Wilson
- Services engineer: Zef Ltd
- Quantity surveyor: Davis Langdon
- Main contractor: SDC Special Projects