Unity Place topping out: March 2022
£150M state of-the-art campus
John Sisk & Son is delivering the construction of a new state-of-the-art campus for Santander at Unity Place in Milton Keynes. Osborne+Co negotiated the project on behalf of Santander with Sisk to deliver the project fully fitted. The new head office site is due to open by Q1 2023.
The new office, which represents an investment of £150m in the town, will be home to over 6,000 employees and will bring together staff from the bank’s existing local office buildings into one location.
Facade installation: July 2021
Feature stairs installation
Our team at Unity Place successfully installed the feature stairs on the Santander building in Milton Keynes. These key architectural features required complex planning to enable their installation, adjacent to completed finishes of glazed balustrades and acoustic bulkheads.
The work was planned and executed with the benefit of 3D modelling. This allowed the testing of various install strategies in a digital environment prior to advancing the installation. The team used a crane with a liftable temporary roof and precision engineering.
Feature stairs installation: August 2022
"From the very first engagement the Sisk team at all levels has abided by the highest standards of transparency and have operated with a spirit of true partnership."
SHL Academy partnership, Milton Keynes
An urban workplace ecosystem
Unity Place is an environmentally sustainable building designed to achieve BREAM Excellent and WELL ‘Gold’ Certification, a measure of the building’s impact on health and wellbeing of its occupants. Some of the features of this state-of-the-art facility will include, a fitness centre, cycle storage, and an employee rooftop walking and running track.
This is a landmark project comprising of circa 500,000 square foot of ultra-modern office space constructed over an expansive double basement, which will benefit Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas enormously.
Creating a lasting legacy
The Unity Place team developed a pilot initiative with local school the Sir Herbert Leon Academy (SHLA), which has been running throughout the last school year. It involved using Sisk’s skills, know-how and experience – along with that of our supply chain (Atlantic Contracts, Wingate Electrical, T Lott) – to empower and upskill the school’s students.
Together, this group recently completed the refurbishment of part of the school, which has now been renamed the Bowcott Building. Former CEO Steve Bowcott, who lives in Milton Keynes, put Bianca Chappell from SHLA in touch with the Santander team, from which this idea was born.
A combined 350 person hours were donated to the project, along with all the associated materials needed for the refurbishment. But perhaps even better news is the fact that four of the students – Connor Owens, Sky Pusey, Jack Longden and Luke Mears – joined Sisk as apprentices.
"The students have learned so much more than technical skills. Their interpersonal skills, their self-confidence has grown and their ability to articulate themselves has improved."
Unity Place topping out event
