The Manchester Town Hall Extension and The Sharp Project have been honoured at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) regional property sector awards for the North of England.
The Northern leg of the BCO’s respected awards programme recognises top quality office design and functionality and sets the standard for excellence in the regional office sector. Over 200 of the country’s top designers, developers, architects and occupiers attended this evening’s awards dinner, all of whom were competing for a coveted BCO regional award.
The Manchester Town Hall Extension won the award for Best Refurbished/Recycled Workplace. This important listed building has served the city well for over 70 years of its life, but was no longer fit for purpose.
The need was to improve the quality and quantity of useable office space and to offer the opportunity for flexible working and an increase in the number of people who are able to work from the building. The judges were impressed with how the extension has achieved the objectives set out from the onset, and how in terms of headcount it has exceeded the initial target of 1,938 people working from the building.
Overall, they described the project as exemplary in demonstrating the way in which it is possible to create an efficient, flexible, modern office space embedded within a characterful listed building.
The Sharp Project on Thorp road was recognised as the North’s nomination for the BCO’s national Innovation award which will be announced in October.
The project was commended for its work in bringing a redundant building back into use and providing some 250,000 sq ft of accommodation, which is now home to 54 digital companies and accommodates network dramas for all of the main UK TV companies.
The judges particularly praised the way in which much of the external façade of the building has been left deliberately unaltered, creating drama as the visitor or tenant moves from the unprepossessing external spaces to the transformed interiors. They also praised the innovative approach the designers took to expanding the space once it became fully occupied – by introducing sea containers which plug into the site’s world class infrastructure.
The judges described The Sharp Project as having turned a conventional warehouse building into a creative, bustling town.
Other winners at the ceremony included Number One Riverside in Rochdale, which won the award for Best Corporate Workplace and Liverpool’s Exchange Station which won the Best Fit Out of Workplace award.
All eyes are now on October 7th when the winners from the Regional Awards will compete in their categories at a national level and also bid to win the property sector’s respected BCO ‘Best of the Best’ award.
Judging Chairman, Tony Hordon from DTZ said: “The winners of the Northern Awards are all ambitious projects that have been chosen from a selection of top quality entries. The Manchester Town Hall Extension and The Sharp Project were extremely impressive projects that emerged as clear frontrunners in their respective categories. Both buildings absolutely fulfilled our criteria by demonstrating flexibility, sustainable construction, architectural flair and above all effectiveness as a workplace.”
