An East Midlands architects firm is celebrating after its designs for British Sugar’s new headquarters won a top award at the annual British Council for Offices Midlands and Central England Awards.
CPMG Architects in Nottingham, won the corporate office of the year award for its work on the building, which opened at the end of 2018.
It replaced a 1970s block and provides space for some 350 people.
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The judging panel highlighted the impressive facilities within the building which they said “delights and surprises at every corner.”
The awards organisers said the office space provides a mixture of formal desks, meeting rooms, telephone booths and lots of flexible space designed to encourage people to circulate within the building.
The ground floor is shared, containing a restaurant, a separate coffee bar and meeting rooms.
The building has large opening windows on the upper floors, with glare and solar gain controlled by solar tracking external glass fins. On the ground floor there are big sliding doors to further increase the connection to the outside and enable working outside as well as inside.
An open staircase forms the unifying feature of the design.
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CPMG Architects managing director Richard Flisher said: “There were a large number of fantastic projects entered in this year’s category, so we are delighted to see our British Sugar headquarters scoop the prize.
“It was really important for us to keep the employees, who would use the building every day, at the heart of everything we did design-wise. We worked closely with the team at British Sugar to implement a workplace strategy assessment, and working with associate interior designers Morey Smith, we were able to translate the business aspirations, work culture and dynamics to inform the overall design.
“It’s thanks to a brilliant client that was prepared to think differently and invest in design concepts, that has ultimately created a building that promotes the wellbeing of those both visiting and working in it. We’re very proud to have played a significant part in the delivery of this facility along with main contractor Bowmer + Kirkland and the rest of the delivery team – and look forward to the national BCO awards in early 2021.”
Catharine Uglow, director of organisational effectiveness at British Sugar, said: “The ethos behind our new office was flexibility, collaboration and innovation, allowing new and agile ways of working for our teams.
“Working together with our architects and other partners, we believe we have achieved this, and it’s great to be recognised by the British Council for Offices for doing so.”
Bowmer + Kirkland was the main contractor on the project, Couch Perry Wilkes were the mechanical and electrical consultants, and Curtins acted as the structural engineers.