New HSBC European Headquarters

Located between two historical buildings in Birmingham – the former Municipal Bank dating back to the 1920s and the Alpha Tower of the 1970s by Richard Seifert - the new HSBC Holdings headquarters, a British multinational company of banking and financial services, has been designed to integrate perfectly between the two.

Its three thin structures rise and open up towards the Alpha Tower and align along the North-South axis. The cladding also adapts to the architecture of the area with a façade, which matches the Portland stone of the buildings nearby. The ten-floor structure hosts 2.500 employees on an area of about 200.000 m2. It is the first building in Birmingham to obtain the LEED Gold accreditation. Indeed, the designers of Make Architects have used “green” solutions for modern construction requirements, such as a reduction in energy consumption of almost 24%, 30% of material used in the construction were from recycled sources, expected reduced water usage of 34%. Furthermore, over 30% of the materials used in construction are sourced and manufactured locally and over 5,500 plants create a living green wall inside the headquarters. Completed by structures and services suitable for project needs, the building hosts a HSBC newly designed branch, while two floors are devoted to HSBC UK University, where there is a 110-place auditorium.

LAMM has participated in this important project with the supply of 108 ST12 study benches with HL3 seats to arrange the auditorium.

The ST12 single-component system, designed for university lecture rooms and conference halls, consists of a bench with fixed writing table and two mobile seats supported by pivoting press-moulded painted aluminium arms.

The HL3 seats, in this case fully upholstered with fabric, can rotate 360 degrees, thus transforming the system from a simple study desk to an "island" for study and work groups, offering the option of working at the same table while sitting in different rows.

The first row floor-length panel, in HPL laminate as the writing table, has been manufactured “on demand”; while in the other rows, there is a H21 continuous panel in aluminium. The electric power supply is available on the central structure.

Once again, LAMM’s capacity to interpret and meet specific design requirements with great flexibility by customising standard products has been successful and crucial for the good result of the installation.