Three Hoare Lea projects were announced as winners at the BCO South West, Thames Valley and South Wales Regional Awards on Thursday 10 May 2012. The prestigious awards, held at the At-Bristol museum, provide recognition for top quality design and celebrate excellence in office space.
Mills Bakery, Plymouth was awarded the best ‘Refurbished/Recycled’ award. The Grade I listed Mills Bakery is located in Royal William Yard, a former Royal Naval victualling yard and one of the most important historic military buildings in the UK.
This mixed-use development comprises 87 luxury apartments, retail space and more than 2,500m2 of office accommodation. The design solution successfully married the need for modern services with a respect for the historic nature of the building, with office services concealed within the existing roof and new boiler flues integrated within an existing chimney.
Horizon House, Bristol won the award for best ‘Corporate Workplace’. The Environment Agency’s national office is one of the greenest office buildings in the UK. It won the 2010 Best BREEAM Office Award with a rating of 85.06% - the highest awarded to an office building under the 2006 criteria.
The building has a low-energy design system including ground source heat pumps, solar panels and photovoltaics that meet 17.5% of the building’s energy needs. The result is a commercially viable building, built to the highest environmental standards, within a city centre location.
Finally, the Bristol and Bath Science Park won the’ Commercial Workplace’ award. Located on a 59 acre site, the Science Park includes flexible offices, research space and laboratories. Careful site design has enabled the high-quality buildings to be located in close proximity, while being surrounded by large, open and attractive shared green areas.
BCO Regional Judging Chairman, Mark Alker Stone, Director at AWW commented:
“We would like to congratulate all entries, especially the winners, who have truly left their mark on the local built and architectural office environment. There are some inspiring workplaces in the region that exude quality design, originality of concept and have the positive effect of lifting the spirits of those who work in these places.”
All eyes are now on 2 October when the winners from the Regional Awards go on to compete at a national level, in a bid to win the ‘Best of the Best’ award.
