Charity HQ joins utility’s project as BCO winners

A CHARITY’S sustainable head office and Severn Trent’s new corporate HQ were among the winners at the 2011 BCO Regional Awards.

Organised by membership association the British Council for Offices, the third annual awards recognise office projects across five categories in the Midlands and East Anglia region.

Severn Trent’s Coventry head office (below), which opened last September, was named joint best corporate workplace with the Woodland Trust’s offices in Grantham. It adds to the RICS West Midlands award it won last week.

Judges praised the new £60m, 170,000 sq ft building for its sustainability credentials which include thermal adaptive cooling, photovoltaic and solar panels and biomass boilers.

The British Horse Society headquarters, in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, was crowned best project up to 2,000 sq metres with judges recognising its innovative, comfortable and sustainable design.

The other winners, with judges’ citations, were:

Best refurbished/recycled workplace
1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham City Council

The project developed a tired, redundant building into a contemporary workplace aimed at encouraging a collaborative work culture. It also enabled Birmingham City Council to move staff from 13 separate office buildings into one.

Best commercial workplace
SportPark, Loughborough

The project displayed strong environmental credentials, making use of natural ventilation and ground source heat pumps, with judges describing it as iconic and a great addition to the University of Loughborough.

Best fit-out of workplace
Avon Cosmetics UK HQ, Northampton

Judges commended its consistent use of branding throughout the building which they said took it beyond the bland corporate style seen in many HQs.

Two projects were also put forward to the national ‘Innovation’ category – Zellig at the Custard Factory, in Birmingham, and the website Me and My Workplace.

Around 300 guests attended the awards ceremony which was held yesterday at Birmingham Town Hall.

Winners from this and four other UK regions will go head-to-head at the national awards ceremony in London on October 11.