Santander Unity Place

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

This ground-breaking workplace is purpose-built for Santander. A fit-for-purpose hub designed specifically with Santander’s specialist tech personnel in mind will now become the Bank’s new UK HQ.

State-of-the-art and built for purpose, Osborne+Co will provide Santander with a tech hub built with people in mind from the beginning, employing the latest thinking in workplace design collaboration space and health and wellbeing.

A fit-for-purpose space for up to 6,500 employees means Santander can optimise and centralise their tech operation, increasing productivity and staff wellbeing with the best possible work environment. The building design has already become Santander’s new global benchmark for excellence in its future buildings.

Project summary

GDV: £180m

Project type: UK HQ and Technology Hub

Total sq footage: 500,000 ft2

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Health and wellbeing benefits

Occupant wellbeing is integral through the building design, provision of facilities and integration into the community – for staff and the wider public: 

  • Naturally lit workspace with a range of workplace and collaboration settings to foster innovation while catering for neurodiversity
  • A range of external amenity spaces throughout the building provide breakout and collaboration space for employees, including a rooftop running track, garden bridges and social terraces 
  • Onsite health and fitness facilities
  • Onsite healthy food offerings
  • Smart building technology to monitor occupancy and building use

LEED & BREEAM green credentials

The building strives for environmental excellence in terms of design, construction and building operations:

  • BREEAM Very Good rating
  • Carbon neutral (with offsetting carbon scheme) supported by a range of renewable energy systems
  • Increased biodiversity to an urban area with a range of plantings throughout the building
  • Entirely dedicated ground and first floor for Finance
  • Broader industry innovation through the delivery of co-working space and an accelerator programme managed by a best-in-class operator, jointly selected and delivered by Santander and Osborne+Co
  • The concept is to create a space that encourages interactions between the Bank’s employees, bank customers, local businesses and other SMEs
  • Establishing a focus hub in Milton Keynes and the broader micro-region for innovation and collaboration

Social value projects as part of the development

Unity Place has a vital purpose of contributing to and supporting the local economy by tackling challenges to sustainable small business growth and by supporting the community through local job creation and education:

  • Public access and community functions on the ground floor of the building
  • Community management programme for the use of facilities
  • Incubator space for local businesses and start-ups
  • Programmes to support education and employment with links to a new university

Project gallery