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Corporate Workplace

The judges felt that the different needs and demands of the individual are integrated successfully across the corporate space at the Guardian News & Media which resulted in them receiving the National Prize.

 

 

NATIONAL WINNER
LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST

GUARDIAN NEWS & MEDIA, KINGS PLACE, LONDON

The Guardian Media Group and its team have created a workplace that is a worthy addition to last year’s BCO “Best of the Best” Award winner. The Dixon Jones designed Kings Place base building provides a setting that is befitting for the world’s oldest independent newspaper while displaying the intricate technological and environmental requirements of a modern, global media brand.

The Guardian and its team, including fit-out specialists tp bennett, contractors Overbury and M&E engineers Roger Preston & Partners, were bequeathed a substantial template, namely one of the best office buildings in the UK, and could easily have rested on its laurels and played it safe. Instead, it has enhanced a great building and provided a thoughtful benchmark for a corporate workplace fit-out.

The Guardian’s workplace performs its task very successfully; the 190 years plus legacy of The Guardian newspaper is celebrated, displaying its history with a use of artefacts and art pieces. Conversely, the demands of modern journalism are apparent in the deep-plan newsroom environment and the support areas providing radio stations, media hubs and data portal areas.

The use of displaced air-conditioning, the high-density occupancy and clever use of the branding have created a thriving, busy workplace that has allowed the improved interaction necessary to create a newspaper, website and broadcast 24-hours a day.

The ability to support a substantial outreach programme within the space also allows The Guardian and its sister paper The Observer, to welcome parties of schoolchildren into the office every day, which achieves engagement within the local community and continues the story of integration developed with the original building.

Overall, the designer has displayed a restrained and light touch, and the lack of obvious ostentation sits well with the occupier and the prevailing market conditions. The successful outcome highlights the significant influence the tenant has achieved through pre-letting and being a hands-on and committed partner throughout the entire development process.

REGIONAL WINNER
SCOTLAND

WEST LOTHIAN CIVIC CENTRE, HOWDEN SOUTH ROAD, LIVINGSTON

Co-locating the Lothian & Borders Police divisional headquarters, Scottish Courts Service administration and West Lothian Council headquarters on to one site, together with a number of other partners poses some obvious difficulties, not least in the division of legal ownership, capital and operational cost allocation, all of which were overcome during the briefing process. The result is a well presented accessible building in a campus environment, which the public can very clearly identify as a 'one stop shop'.

The judges noted the huge commitment to cultural change made by the partner organisations, all relocating from a diverse range of predominantly cellular accommodation into largely open plan floor plates.

The building itself is of a lasting quality, combining limestone, zinc and brass finishes into its appropriately civic external persona, and taking a rare opportunity to introduce natural ventilation from the perimeter and exhausting through automatically opening vents located in high level lanterns.

An exemplar project where collaboration between council and public services agencies in a local authority region will provide lasting benefits, both to the agencies themselves in cost savings but, more importantly to the public, in terms of clarity and effectiveness of service delivery.

REGIONAL WINNER
THE MIDLANDS AND EAST ANGLIA

NAPP PHARMACEUTICALS, CAMBRIDGE SCIENCE PARK

NAPP Pharmaceuticals is a new corporate office project that comprises three linked buildings in an attractive and well-landscaped setting. It is set on a courtyard arrangement on Cambridge Science Park, which is two miles outside of Cambridge city centre. Cambridge Science Park is a centre for research and development activity; occupiers include Cambridge University, Kodak and Toshiba. Trinity College developed the buildings for NAPP Pharmaceuticals on a site sale and leaseback basis.

The £27m project provides accommodation for the company’s administrative and R&D functions, providing workspace for 500 staff sitting within a gross internal area of around 110,000 sq ft, on a site stretching over 2.7ha. While slightly disappointing to find the building only achieved a BREEAM “Good” rating, an EPC “B” rating illustrated the efficiency of use.

The primary entrance is approached via a colonnade with the upper floors hanging to create a shelter. Well-placed brise soleil and solar panels protect the elevations from heat gain and act as a screen for much of the noise from the immediately adjacent A14.

The internal arrangement of a streetscape within a lateral atrium provides a dramatic effect to the building with the ground floor being used for meeting rooms, breakout and restaurant uses. A displacement ventilation system with static chilled beams controls internal temperature.

The space is predominately open-plan and successful high-quality lighting provides a well-lit space with dramatic additions, making the building an outstanding workplace.

REGIONAL WINNER
THE NORTH OF ENGLAND, NORTH WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND

ISS BUILDING, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY

Lancaster University and Wilson Mason and Partners have worked hand in hand to deliver a bold architectural statement in the form of the Information Systems Services (ISS) building. The outcome has evolved from the precise brief generated through the functional needs of three research departments, which have been brought together around a large data-centre.

The final result allows natural light to permeate into the heart of the workspaces. Occupants now have an awareness of place and sense of purpose via the visual connection to all levels of the building while benefiting from the orientation of the outside views.

The judges felt that this development was a subtle and clever response to a work environment, where the richness of workplace takes precedence.

The demands of creating a fully supported brief through intense dialogue can be difficult in most organisations, but are a huge achievement in a university environment. Behind this project is a complete information portal for this Lancaster University Campus and surrounding colleges throughout Lancashire and the South Lakes District.

The client body at the University is to be commended for continuing to create workplaces that will facilitate and encourage pioneering research: this award follows on from the University winning the BCO national corporate award for its Infolab21 in 2005. The ISS building has also been awarded a BREEAM rating of “Excellent”.

REGIONAL WINNER
SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND AND SOUTH WALES

THE HUB, 500 AZTEC WEST, BRITSOL

At The Hub in Bristol, Atkins has created a modern workplace that staff could be proud of and which showcases the company’s own Carbon Critical Design initiative. Ultimately, the building acts as a testimony to what Atkins itself is capable of.

Atkins’ rationale for creating its new regional headquarters building was very clear: to consolidate staff from four separate offices into a single building using a brownfield site – thus enhancing inter-business trading and bringing sustainable benefits. While the intention at the outset was to occupy the project in its entirety, the company set out to ensure its design could accommodate flexible occupation by multiple occupiers in the future. Atkins undertook many of the key tasks itself, while also working with developer ROK and a team including Tuffin Ferraby Taylor and Gardiner & Theobald. Atkins felt its goals were achieved by way of good programme and value-for-money management.

The regional judges did, however, feel that the fit-out of the building did not ultimately enhance the excellent potential of the base-build. Use of the site and the building’s general configuration was excellent, and technical solutions were well thought out and integrated.

An “Excellent” BREEAM assessment has demonstrated its commitment to carbon reduction, achieved not only by a range of technical measures, but also through additional tactics such as a sustainable travel plan.

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