HMRC Regional Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh

Client: Aitken Turnbull Architects on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the UK Government

Architect: Aitken Turnbull Architects

Contractor: Wates Smartspace (fit out)

Project team: Russell Macdonald, David Chapman, Clement Luciani, Gareth Henderson, Dale Porteous

Located in Edinburgh’s Old Town at 1 Sibbald Walk, the new 190,000ft² Office Hub is a seven storey office space designed for 2,200 public sector employees. It brings civil servants from 24 UK Government departments and agencies including the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (OSSS) and the Office of the Advocate General, HMRC, HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, Office for Statistics Regulation, Information Commissioner’s Office, and the Government Actuary’s Department.

RMP assessed the CAT A fit-out for compliance against the Employers requirements and BREEAM Health and Well-being, to establish forward liabilities. Thereafter, acoustic design advice for the CAT B fit out design was provided to assure sound insulation performance, with extensive acoustic testing upon completion.

Specific advice was given to acoustic detailing and building services penetrations, corridor partitioning (glazing and doors) and folding partitions. Building services noise measurements were undertaken to confirm the required privacy was achieved between adjacent rooms.

RMP provided all reporting in-line with BREEAM requirements including for POL 05 covering plant noise emissions to noise sensitive receptors.