New Estate Office With ‘Finest View in England’

The new single-storey offices designed by Oxford-based architect Andrew Spurring, features traditional materials combining limestone ashlar cladding to the front elevation, with contemporary design, including floor-to-ceiling glass panels to the rear, providing stunning views across the UNESCO World Heritage Site all under a flat zinc roof.

Encompassing views of the Queen Pool, the Vanbrugh’s iconic Grand Bridge, ‘Capability’ Brown parkland and the magnificent 18^th century Palace, the new building recreates the vista which inspired Lord Randolph Churchill, father of Sir Winston, to coin the phrase ‘finest view in England’ when he first saw it in 1874.

However, the unique design and setting allows the building to be largely invisible from the wider views from within the Park.

“The new office provides a fantastic new workplace for our central teams,” said Blenheim CEO Dominic Hare.

“We had been based in the old Woodstock Lodge building for 14 years and the team had outgrown the space and it wasn’t feasible to adapt it to our growing requirements. In particular, we need to grow our teams to deliver on our 10-year goals commitment”.

“As well as looking absolutely beautiful, the new office space is fitted with the latest technology and has been specifically designed to adapt and develop in the future.

“The architect has managed to create a hugely flexible, welcoming and functional workplace while making use of traditional materials and local craftspeople to enable it to fit very comfortably into its surroundings,” he added.

In addition to its amazing setting, the new building has made use of local materials including limestone and lime mortar to blend in to its historic surroundings.

As part of its commitment to triple its contribution to the local economy within 10 years Blenheim employed a team of local stone masons, carpenters, roofers, electricians and engineers who worked alongside the estates contracting team and architect Andrew Spurring to create the offices.

Despite its traditional build, the architects have incorporated state-of-the-art heating and lighting features to minimise energy consumption in line with Blenheim’s goal to become a net generator of green energy by 2027.

A heat exchanger unit provides both ventilation and heating for the entire building through vents in the floor and the temperature and CO2 levels are controlled automatically.

All lighting is LED, energy efficient and features motion sensors.

The car park also features cycle racks for bikes as well as four electric car charging points.

Blenheim’s former Estate Offices are currently undergoing restoration and will be used to accommodate local enterprises as managed office space. It’s also hoped they will feature a pop-up bank facility.