SKY BiBB Plaza

A Shared Landscape at the Heart of the Campus

BiBB Plaza forms the latest phase of URBAN’s ongoing collaboration with Sky UK, responding to a clear client ambition to reimagine this central campus space as the equivalent of a university quad—open, flexible, and designed for shared life. Situated between the BiBB Building, the Hub, and Sky Studios, the plaza occupies a pivotal position within the campus, acting as a social and spatial heart. Conceived as a generous green commons rather than a formal plaza, the space is designed to support a wide range of uses: informal gatherings, outdoor working, pop-up events, and moments of pause within the working day. Its openness reinforces legibility across the campus, drawing people together and encouraging everyday occupation of the landscape.

Designing Openness, Movement, and Seasonal Delight

The design prioritises soft landscape over hardscape, maximising planted and lawn areas while keeping paved surfaces to what is necessary for access and durability. Direct, legible pathways cut cleanly through the space, ensuring intuitive movement between buildings while preserving the openness of the central lawn for gathering and flexible use. Running along the main pedestrian spine, an allée of cherry blossom trees creates a strong spatial structure and a moment of delight in spring, when the plaza is transformed by blossom, colour, and scent. Surrounding perennial planting beds provide rich texture and spectacular seasonal colour throughout the year, ensuring the landscape remains animated and engaging in every season. Seating is subtly integrated at the edges of lawns and within planting, encouraging informal use without interrupting the clarity of the space.

A Living Quad: Nature, Resilience, and Wellbeing

BiBB Plaza is designed not only as a social space, but as a piece of living infrastructure that contributes to the environmental performance of the campus. Extensive planting supports biodiversity and pollinators, while lawns and planted beds help absorb and slow rainwater, reducing surface runoff and contributing to sustainable drainage. Trees provide shade and cooling in warmer months, improving comfort and resilience in a changing climate. Above all, the plaza offers a calm, green counterpoint to the intensity of studio and office life—a place to step outside, gather, reflect, or simply pass through. In reinterpreting the timeless idea of the university quad for a contemporary workplace, BiBB Plaza demonstrates how landscape can shape culture, foster community, and quietly enrich everyday experience.