Located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in the UK, ECSAT is the headquarters of ESA’s Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications, and also supports teams working in commercialisation, Earth observation, human and robotic exploration, and space technology, engineering and quality.

Having a presence on the Harwell campus for some years within a repurposed building which had been outgrown, Wilson Mason worked with the client to create a striking five-storey workspace linked to a two-storey reception and conference centre, totalling 4,870m2 of accommodation, with external landscaping and car parking.

Home to 120 staff, the building’s main activities are centred around a requirement for computing as well as encompassing digital technology and engineering. The facility, named after the ESA’s first director general Roy Gibson, acts as a hub for interfacing with and controlling satellites and includes some analytical and assembly areas.

A variety of spaces have also been accommodated within the building including offices, a meeting and conference facility, a cafeteria, exhibition spaces, laboratories, and video conference facilities.

Critically it provides accommodation commensurate with other ESA campus facilities elsewhere across Europe including staff club facilities, bouldering wall at the base and on the back of stairs and more recently G5 and virtual reality hub.