International Baccalaureate Organization

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), founded in 1968, is a recognised leader in the field of international education. It is a non-profit foundation that works with 1,579 schools to develop and offer challenging programmes in 121 countries to approximately 200,000 students.

The IBO required a new headquarters building, located in Cardiff, that not only housed its administration facilities, but also acted as a focus to bring together staff from all over the world.

Design Brief ...

Bbi won the project on the merits of its Design and Build proposals. As well as designing open plan offices for the administration staff, the detailing of conferencing space was essential as well as providing informal meeting areas and a 'travel desk' for staff on the move.

Specifically, the scope of work included:

• Reception Area
• Open plan offices
• Conferencing facilities
• Catering and restaurant facilities
• Quiet space
• Informal meeting space
• Internet 'look-up' areas
• Travel 'shop'

Project Delivery ...

Space Management

Bbi presented a concept based on the 'Village Green' where the village green was a central place for people to meet and discuss ideas. Off from the village green were Internet 'look-up' points (that helped disguise some of the awkward columns!) and quiet space that had a gallery feel (whilst also displaying artwork from students around the world which subtly reinforced IBO's core mission statement).

Budget, timescale and quality

Not unusually, budgets and timescales were tight, however IBO required a quality feel to the fit-out and, on completion, were delighted with the result.

Gallery ...

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