In the BCO Awards 2016, the Regional Award for the Commercial Workplace category was won by I & II Pinehurst, Farnborough Business Park, for which Watkins Payne provided the building services consultancy role.
I & II Pinehurst was praised by the judges for reflecting the needs of the modern worker whilst still being sympathetic to the neighbouring architecture. The development was also commended for its careful selection of materials – combining a variety of quality cladding which anchor the buildings into the textured landscape that surrounds it. Overall, the judges felt that the office offered a well-designed, efficient and flexible working environment.
The two buildings provide 110,000ft² of office space and achieved a Very Good BREEAM rating.
The Regional Award covers the South West, Thames Valley & South Wales.
Watkins Payne provided MEP systems and IT cabling design services for the fit-out of 186,000ft2 of commercial offices in the eight storey 1 Forbury Place in Reading, which formed the focus of SSE Services plc’s relocation strategy to consolidate several buildings from across southern England and accommodate 1,500 employees in a single location.
234 Bath Road development located in Slough is arranged over ground, first and second floors, with a basement level car park and podium level car park to the rear. The development constructed in 2016 stand at 68,000 ft2 of office accommodation. Part of the ground office floor area was utilised to provide a café to enhance the amenities within the development.
1 Blyth Gate, Birmingham is a three-story office development in Solihull. It boasts a triple height reception and the amenity spaces within the business park in which the development sits offer excellent views of the surrounding area. The building has been provided with additional showers and cycling facilities to assist in promoting sustainable travel methods to work and drive down carbon emissions.
‘The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has granted planning consent for 115,000 sq ft of new high-quality office space at 63-81 Pelham Street.’
Watkins Payne were commissioned to undertake the design and refurbishment of the 2 retail units, 15 residential units and office space.