No1 Farnham Rd - Revised Plan

Major revision to existing Office Block 

Status

Application lodged 26/P/01026

Windfall Site

This replaces a previous scheme for a larger redevelopment see details at this link.  These plans submitted as 23/P/00764 were approved by GBC.  This application was amended with detail changes to the facades April 2024

Scale

4,346.0 SQ/M compared to 3,458.3 SQ/M currently.

The same size building as today except portions of the roof are repurposed as a terrace and the eastern side is extended.

Architect

DMOD Architects (Dublin)

Comment

The society believes providing high-quality office accommodation in the Station Area is to be welcomed as is proposed in the Guildford Economic Development Strategy approved 22-2-2023,

The office plans have been revised and reduced in scale as the reconfiguration is being done for a specific client.  The video games industry is a significant and growing part of the UK’s creative and digital economy and is recognised within the UK’s emerging industrial strategy.  Guildford has an established reputation as one of the UK’s principal centres for video game development, with a long-standing concentration of studios and experienced professionals.

Larian Studios is an internationally recognised video game developer, founded in 1996, and have long been dedicated to creating world-class video games. Larian Studios currently employs over 550 people globally with studios in Guildford, Ghent, Dublin, Barcelona, Warsaw, Quebec, and Kuala Lumpur. The proposed development is to provide a permanent, purpose built home to their UK team and enable their continued growth in the UK. The development of 1 Farnham Road will enable the Guildford studio to grow from it’s current headcount of 96 to over 220 skilled developers. The proposal involves the regeneration of an existing building to create purpose-built studio space designed to support collaborative game development. This includes flexible team working areas and an integrated motion capture MOCAP and Audio studio facilities

The concept of re-using the basic structure of the existing block to provide upgraded office accommodation is to be commended.

As with the previous application we do have major concerns with how this this development relates to the wider area.  Guildford, which lacks strategic plans for areas of the town centre, continues to consider proposals at a site level rather than creating opportunities on a wider scale.  No 1 Farnham Road illustrates this on many aspects.  See our post on the previous application that details our issues with is site.