MoD Abbey Wood



MoD Abbey Wood is a Ministry of Defence establishment at Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom. The purpose-built site houses the MoD Defence Equipment and Support procurement organisation. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 1996, after which 15 government departments employing some 13,400 people relocated to the site.

History
The building project included more than 1,630,000 m²(1,900,000 sq yds) of buildings including offices, restaurants, library, sports facilities, training rooms, auditoria and conference rooms, support facilities and a crèche, together with landscaping and external works on a 402 acre site. It was designed with a feel of connecting "neighbourhoods" and is surrounded by an artificial lake for security.

Abbey Wood was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 1996. The campus cost £250 million to build and has been described as "the most progressive public sector office complex built in Britain for a generation". The site won the 1997 RICS Energy Efficiency award for the ecological design of the building, however its environmental friendliness was later questioned as many employees travelled to the site by car, though it is adjacent to the Filton Abbey Wood railway station.

After opening, the MoD Procurement Executive departments from across the UK, mainly London and Bath, relocated to the new facility. Subsequently further consolidation to the site has occurred. The relocation of departments, bringing together 15 offices and 4,400 staff, was the largest ever attempted by a British government department. The site manages procurement contracts for the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force. Abbey Wood is the largest MoD site in the UK with 13,850 staff in 2012.