BT Openworld
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Still sporting bright bold colours was the 4th floor of BT Openworld. The 'Internet Cafe' area gave a warm friendly atmosphere in which creative ideas could flourish. |
By the early 1990s, the switches in Mondial House were silent, having been superseded by digital technology at other sites. Office space in London is always at a premium, but buildings that were specifically designed to house analogue telephone switching equipment are not well suited to other purposes.
Planning permission was granted in December 1993 for 'change of use' for part of the building from telephone exchange to B1 offices. It was about this time that home use computers with dial-up Internet were becoming more affordable and popular.
The growing business of the Internet and Broadband services needed a new home and so TPS consult set about refurbishing two floors to house the offices of BT Openworld. In the Spring of 2002 Avci Architects developed a modern creative studio space for the Internet Media Services designers, providing work stations for 600 staff.
With an innovative design, the 4th floor was transformed into a very non-corporate looking, 'warehouse type' space, a first for BT, but in keeping with the products of the 21st century!
A wireless LAN (Local area Network) connecting up to 300 people to the broadband service was installed together with internet kiosks that were once in the Millennium Dome, finished off with a hi-tech audio-visual set up.
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Cafe on 4. |
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The Internet Kiosks from the Millennium Dome |
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Industrial-look light fittings. |
www.avciarchitects.com
TPS Consult:
Had links backwards to the 'Office of Works' and was part of Carillion. On Monday 15 January 2018, the High Court appointed the Official Receiver as liquidator of Carillion Plc and several of its subsidiary companies on the petition of the Companies’ directors.
"TPS Consult was a creative team of professional construction consultants formed in 1993 when the UK Government's Property Services Agency was acquired by Tarmac Construction, later Carillion."
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