Test of Time Award

Skyways House, home to Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited in Liverpool, is the inaugural winner of the BCO Test of Time Award, which has been instigated this year to reward buildings that have proven themselves to live up to their original aspirations and intentions.

The national winner of the 2006 BCO Refurbished/Recycled Workplace Award was one of around 40 previous regional and national BCO Award winners (from that year and from 2007) that were invited to apply, including the submission of post occupancy evaluations to demonstrate the effectiveness of the building in coping with occupancy requirements over time. Skyways House, at the original Liverpool airport and instantly recognisable from the black and white photos of the Beatles’ triumphant returns to their home city from global tours, was the outstanding winner.

In 2006 the former 1939 built aircraft hangar was refurbished to allow the centralisation of 1,500 workers into its then, newly-unified Shop Direct division. The building was designed to create an open working culture and improve communication in a flexible setting. At the time Littlewoods expressed its satisfaction with the building saying “The new HQ has 'radically improved' our business.”

The original conversion still feels brand new and vibrant. The retail company synonymous with Liverpool has made the iconic building, where light floods down through the three floors from the Barnes Wallace designed roof, its home. The FM team continues to cope with constant change as the business has diverged over the past five years into new product areas, new markets and new ways of accessing those markets. 

The robust design of open floor plates slung within the volume of the original hangar, with a dynamic streetscape providing visual interaction between all departments - and on a regular basis an ‘open mic’ verbal interaction between staff and management - has allowed for constant change of individual workstations, without in any way threatening the overall integrity and organisation of the space.

The Airport is located outside of the main city centre, but from the moment you walk into the Skyways open reception area you are met by a vibrant, buzzy atmosphere, which delivers creative interaction between staff themselves and the organisation and its suppliers - who regularly visit to negotiate the Littlewoods Catalogue’s ever changing products.

The Judges are certain that it will still feel the same in another five years’ time making this a worthy winner of the Test of Time Award.