Forbury Place

Forbury Place is a landmark commercial office development in the centre of Reading, combining a highly sustainable building with a cutting edge design.

Galliford Try undertook the construction of both Forbury Place 1 & 2, creating over 365,000 sqft of Category A office space, adjacent to Reading station.

Beginning in October 2013 with Forbury Place 1, the development replaced the former 1970s Energis House building. Extensive excavations followed the demolition progress to create a basement running under both buildings, with over 2,000 lorry movements required in a busy city centre setting.

The design of both buildings features ribbon-like vertical fins provide solar shading and create the illusion of movement as you walk past. The design also incorporates a ‘diagrid’, the powerful diagonal form providing unique visual branding.

Inside, the double-height reception provides a preview of the high-quality finishes that extend throughout the building’s large floor plates, and externally, landscaped green spaces border the buildings, while green terraces feature on the upper floors.

The building achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating, with energy efficiency measures while low and zero carbon technologies including air source heat pumps, Micro CHP (Combined Heat & Power) unit, and photovoltaic panels to help minimise CO2 emissions associated with operational energy consumption.

Forbury Place 2 was a silver winner at the Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards, while Forbury Place 1 was named Best Development Outside London at the OAS Development Awards.