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Retro ChicIs the regeneration of 70’s office architecture a necessary evil or an exciting opportunity?

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General News UpdateMay 2007

London Office 11-29 Fashion StreetLondon E1 6PZ

t +44 (0)20 7426 3630f +44 (0)20 7426 3631london@dlgarchitects.com

dlgarchitects.com

Leeds Office Marshall Mill, Marshall StreetLeeds LS11 9YJ

t +44 (0)113 394 6900f +44 (0)113 394 6901leeds@dlgarchitects.com

Best Architect 2006

DLG won ‘Transformation project 2007’ at the annual Property Awards for ‘Basilica’ transforming the 1960’s structure into 92 apartments including’ mixed use office and retail space.

Yorkshire’s ‘Resi Prop’ Awards

Boutique ShoppingChristmas 2006 saw the culmination of over 12 months work with the submission of the Permis de Construire and the CDEC dossiers for a new 300’000 sq ft Boutique centre near Toulouse, France. Working for a joint venture English / French client as lead architect DLG worked with a local French design team and contractor to design what will be the first of a new generation of outlet centres.

The centre which contains around 140 boutiques is designed around a series of meandering streets over three levels each of which leads visitors to a new central ‘village’ square - the heart of the development.

The Courtyard, Tewkesbury

Robert Hitchins Ltd have recently completed the sale of two of the largest office buildings at The Courtyard, Tewkesbury Business Park. The project delivers ten office buildings in a mixture of one and two storey units and includes the restoration of the 17th century timber framed listed Long Barn and Granary and refurbishment of a listed Victorian pig sty.

The contemporary new buildings form a series of courtyard spaces within the existing medieval moat boundary. The result is a series of intimate linked spaces, providing a vibrant working environment for a combination of tenants and owner occupiers. The commercial success of the scheme exceeded the developers initial expectations, and has been entered into this years RICS Awards.

Malcolm Tyre, Robert Hitchins Properties Ltd ‘‘The project has been great success thanks to DLG’’

Feature ArticleMay 2007

Eyesore an opportunityCalls at last month’s Mipim property conference for new build office development to be seen as a last resort have stimulated polarised stances, with some holding firmly to the view that a moratorium on new buildings would be a valuable step in the challenge to tackle climate change by forcing existing buildings to be re-used, while others see such a radical approach as unnecessary, naïve and extreme.

A great opportunity exists to revisit some of the outdated and redundant buildings of the 70s, with significant potential to reinvent them as fresh and desirable workplaces. Ugly and outmoded is a commonly held view of much of this architecture. Yet there is a proliferation of 70’s ‘retro’ in music, fashions, and interior design, and a growing affection for 70’s classics from the Ford Cortina to patterned wallpaper.

This retro revival has yet to penetrate the property scene. The impact of office design on workforce productivity, job satisfaction and staff retention tends to support the view that new is better. But given the new driving force in office design is to provide sustainable and environmentally sound workplaces, is it not time to look anew at some of the 70’s buildings? Re-use of existing fabric is vastly preferable environmentally and given an open-minded, innovative approach to space planning, façade treatment and servicing arrangements, the revitalising of this building stock can provide exciting workplaces that respond well to modern working practice demands.

Moreover, there are a great many positives to support the imaginative rejuvenation of this building stock. Commercially, such re-use, avoids a wasteful and lengthy programme of demolition and rebuild, and can achieve excellent BREEAM ratings as it generates relatively low CO2 emissions during construction, boosting the building’s green credentials with clear CSR benefits.

The commonly shallower floor to floor height’s means a greater number of floors are often achieved than with new build offices of equivalent massing. Additionally, the generally narrower floorplates are well suited to natural ventilation, reducing air conditioning requirements and helping to minimise plenum space needs. In some instances air distribution can be achieved by innovative means, such as ducts on the outside face, and twin skin elevations. With shallower floor plates these buildings also generally provide good levels of natural light and window location opportunities, with acknowledged wellbeing benefits to occupants.

Despite mixed views of 70’s architecture, there are undoubtedly advantages to keeping some of this heritage alive rather than obliterating the buildings of an era simply because they are not currently in vogue. True, in some cases they make for more challenging projects, but with an innovative, problem-solving design approach some of the most creative and exciting solutions can arise out of those very challenges. Isn’t it time eyes and minds were opened to the potential these buildings offer to create exciting modern offices?

The approach is not without its hurdles but early checks on the structure can establish its long term viability and even the potential for adding new upper floors without major work to the structure or foundations. The most significant stumbling block is often the limiting view that such buildings can’t deliver technically based on BCO specifications. However given the right approach, these offices can provide something more attractive to many occupiers than typical Grade A space, thereby contributing positively to business performance and staff wellbeing.

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C - Flexible working practices Good natural light Sustainable re-use

A - Typlical 70’s floor plate

B - Twin skin facade Improved Nat vent/ acoustic performance Horizontal/ vertical shading Low carbon lighting Controlled air distribution

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Site News UpdateMay 2007

The Becketts, Leeds

Site operations commenced in April on ‘The Becketts’, a £3 million pound mixed use scheme for Rushbond comprising 24 flats above retail units and basement car parking, on a prominent site in Meanwood, Leeds.

The challenging triangular shaped site was previously occupied by the Art Deco ‘Beckett’s Arms’ Public House, which had fallen into disuse, and the scheme is viewed as a key regeneration project to revitalise the local area.

The scheme has a 52 week build programme, and is designed with a concrete structural plinth and lightweight timber framed upper storeys for ease of construction, with a palette of brick and

render external walling materials to reflect the site history.

The Atrium, Camberley

The mixed use scheme for Crest Nicholson Development is progressing at pace with the ground works including a staggering 1600 Augered piles and sheet piling for the residential basement parking now complete. The retail block steel frame is now nearing completion and the contracor, Laing O’Rourke is targeting an Autumn 2008 completion.

The tenant list includes Next, Sportsworld and Virgin with the leisure offer including VUE (9 screen) Bowlplex (20 lane) Starbucks, Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquittos, Nando’s, Real China and Cafe Rouge.

Willow Place, Corby

The April ‘topping out’ Ceremony celebrated another significant stage in the construction of the 200,000 sq ft shopping Centre.

Tenant interest is growing and the programme will enable retail fit out work to commence in autumn 2007 with the tenant list already including New Look, TK Maxx, Superdrug, FOPP, WhSmiths and the Arcadia groups Dorethy Perkins, Evans and Burton.

Pictured at the Ceremony are Corby’s Mayor - Councillor John O’neil, Norman Hingston and Mark Rymell of Land Securites and Richard Dakin of HBG Construction Ltd.

14 Cornhill, London

24Office News UpdateMay 2007

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The development of the former Lloyds Bank headquarters building at Bank in the City of London presented interesting challenges.

The opportunity was taken to re-plan the building with a new office access core and entrance hall located within an adjacent smaller building. The connection to the new core was enhanced by including the Imperial Staircase into the design of the central atrium of the building, giving a new relevance to this important element and ensuring that all floors maintain a sense of continuity with the history of the building.

Two extra floors and plant rooms are being added to the top of the building and will provide spectacular space with unrivalled views over the City. The modern structures of these floors are hung from large trusses supported on just six “mega columns” which carry the loads down through the twelve floors of the building to new foundations at basement level avoiding surcharging the existing building frame.

The new architecture of the main core, atrium and upper floors continues the sculptural themes set by the building’s original architect within the depth of the building plan and these are legible from outside the building, particularly at the end of the vista East along Cheapside, itself an important City view.

Cornhill Building Sequence

The building will be re-born as a mixed use development containing shops, restaurants and top quality open plan office space built around a spectacular atrium, maintaining and celebrating the historic qualities of the building which will make it unique among City developments.

Client: IVG Asticus Real Estate LtdComplete early 2008126,000 sqft office40,000 sqft other uses

DLG argues that any new office building should be a model for 21st century working, defining new working practices to empower and unify workers. The layouts for example should encourage horizontal as well as vertical movements of staff. The days of working in a ‘den’ are gone, open plan configurations with meeting spaces placed to encourage the movement of staff are essential. It’s these haphazard meetings that bring organisations together, through the sharing and exchanging of ideas.

Compliance with the standards imposed by Part L is seen by many of our clients as a minimum standard whilst some public sector clients are imposing stringent low carbon and renewable energy targets of up to 30%. Key features now being used include natural ventilation via openable windows and atria. Removing ceilings to expose the thermal mass of a building thus minimising the impact of internal and solar gains. Energy consumed by lighting can be reduced through the use of shallowfloorplates allowing dual aspect day lighting, lower levels of overall lighting supplemented with local task lighting and intelligent switching systems, whilst higher floor to ceiling heights enable more daylight penetration. Meanwhile heating provided through low carbon Biomass boilers using locally sourced renewable timber fuel can not only reduce running costs but produces almost 10 times less kgCO2.

Future Proofing

The architecture of an office whilst being a marriage between the requirements of the brief, the budget and the site should do more – it should ‘uplift the spirits’. The use of a naturally daylit, full height atria not only forms a key part of an environmental strategy but also improves communication – helping bring staff together in a dramatic space. Meanwhile modern working practices such as flexible hours, desk sharing, touch down points and the need to unify staff are positive challenges that can create buildings and spaces with

emotion.

24Office News UpdateMay 2007

To discuss office solutions further contact:Andrew Gardner (Leeds) 0113 3946 900)Gareth Gerner (London, 0207 426 3630)Or see them at BCO 2007, New York

Contemporary workspace - example’s from DLG Fashion Street project, BCO commended 2003.