Cass Business School

The Space

When looking to expand its offering, City, University of London’s affiliate, acquired over 2,500 sq m/ 26,910 st ft at 106 Bunhill Row, London. Within this the institution was looking to establish the new home of its executive education and part-time MBA programs.

The Project

When searching for an architect they found their partner in NBBJ, whose vision matched the University’s desire to create a modern facility to support academic activity and provide an atmosphere to encourage working executives.

Included in this refurbishment project was to be the installation of teaching and networking spaces for over 160 people. In particular, the client required there to be recreational areas complete with a coffee bar, teaching and seminar spaces, a lecture theatre, board room, executive lounge, conference room and administerial offices.

At the heart of NBBJ’s design concept was the desire to create a “classroom in a workspace;” somewhere where students could meet, study, socialise, eat and relax together. The key to the success of the design scheme was its ability to nurture a natural air of collaboration.

For any collaborative environment to function correctly there needs to be an unbounded sense of transparency. Transparency between rooms, levels, areas and offices. Consequently, glass partitioning, glass screens and glass doors were to play a central role in NBBJ’s design for Cass Business School.

As a result, Optima was chosen to design, engineer and install all glazed systems throughout the space. Revolution 54 centrally glazed single glazing complete with American Black Walnut timber veneered doors were installed in the syndicate rooms to give a polished executive finish, whilst double glazed Edge doors were installed in the board room for enhanced acoustic control. These glazing systems were applied with different finishes including a mirror film finish, and applied film manifestation.

The Result

Today Cass Business School attracts outstanding academics, students and businesses from across the globe and we like to think we have a very small part to play in their inspiring learning journeys. Optima’s glazed partitions were used to create elegant syndicate rooms, functional teaching rooms and innovative meeting rooms, along with well thought out screens within breakout areas.

The overall result is one of style, practicality and functionality. It is an inspiring working space, one that encourages collaboration and opens up opportunities amongst academics, students and businesses.

Working with Optima

Working directly with the project’s main contractor, Structure Tone, Optima consistently met the tight deadlines professionally and effectively. We are extremely proud of all our work, but especially with Cass Business School, as this project demonstrates our commitment and ability to deliver high-quality glazed systems to world-class education institutions.