Building:	Jennie Lee Building
University:	The Open University
Department:	The Institute of Educational Technology and Computing Department
Completed:	2008
Capital cost:	£19 million
Net internal area:	3,516m2 (Excluding labs. Total NIA = 4,241 m2)
Occupants:	241 (Intended.  Maximum occupancy = 285)
Space mix:	Open-plan office space, meeting rooms, cellular offices, laboratory facilities

The Jennie Lee building was designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, in response to the Open University’s vision of a landmark building that would serve as a showcase for its cutting-edge research. 

The building provides office space and laboratory facilities over three floors, linked by the central Nexus – which includes kitchen facilities and clusters of informal seating.  The office accommodation for academic, research and non-academic staff is predominantly open plan and large shared offices, although there are a small number of individual cellular offices.  This is supplemented by a range of breakout areas, meeting rooms and small ‘pods’, which are intended for occupants to use for noise-generating activities, such as phone calls, and concentrated individual tasks.