Reading: Broadway Malyan moves to fifth floor of Thames Tower

Broadway Malyan has relocated to a high-profile studio in the heart of Reading. The international architecture and urbanism practice has taken a 430 sq m state-of-the-art facility on the fifth floor of the RIBA award-winning Thames Tower building opposite Reading railway station. Broadway Malyan has moved its team from its former studio in Theale.

Broadway Malyan director David Anderson said the move was a major statement of intent for the practice, which has had a presence in Reading for more than four decades and has been involved in some of the town’s largest projects including the ongoing Green Park Village scheme that is delivering a major new mixed-use community on the edge of the town.

He said: “Our Reading studio has been one of Broadway Malyan’s most successful in recent years and while it served us well, our former studio in Theale had become dated and offered little opportunity to create the kind of environment that supports modern working practices and the aspirations of our team.

“Thames Tower has recently been refurbished and offers some of the best office space in Reading while its location next to the train station will make a huge difference to our connectivity with our studio network as well as being incredibly convenient for our clients and colleagues alike.

“This is an exciting new chapter for the Reading studio and will not only provide a fantastic creative space for our existing team but will help us attract the very best talent as we fulfil our growth aspirations in the years to come.”  

The open-plan office itself includes space for 48 workstations with a further space for six more at a communal dining table around a shared breakout and café space in the heart of the office. The studio also includes flexible conference rooms as well as focus rooms for solo high concentration work.

 

There will also be a flexible design review theatre space with a modular bench system that can be reconfigured for meetings and presentations. The design inspiration for the space is ‘bringing the outside in’ with real plants and trees to bring animation and colour to the studio while the colour scheme responds the four seasons with shades of green, warm orange and gold and cool blues and white.

UK chairman Ian Apsley said the investment in new studio space was a vote of confidence in the UK business and an important part of ensuring the practice remained competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

He said: “Broadway Malyan has recently celebrated its 60^th anniversary and if we are to thrive for another 60 years then providing inspiring studio environments that support our colleagues wellbeing is absolutely paramount."

The office fit-out was designed by Broadway Malyan and delivered by Overbury.