Reuse and Refurbishment Wins at the BCO London Awards
09.05.2024
Two of our workplace projects have been named winners at the British Council for Offices London Awards. These are Grainhouse (Best Corporate Workplace) and Tower Hamlets Town Hall (Refurbished/Recycled).
The BCO’s annual awards recognise projects that demonstrate best practices in office design, fit-out, operation and sustainability, setting the standard for excellence across the sector.
Our award wins showcase our expertise in adaptive reuse, but also a wider industry shift from demolish and replace, to adapt and reuse.
From the complex adaptive reuse of a disused hospital into Tower Hamlets Town Hall to stitching five buildings together to create Grainhouse. As shown by this year's BCO Awards, restoration and reuse are a defining theme in the best of London’s workplace sector.
Reuse and Refurbishment Wins at the BCO London Awards
Grainhouse
Grainhouse was crowned Best Corporate Workplace. The design team led by Barr Gazetas was praised by the judges for their ability to stitch together a complex of five heritage buildings into a modern workplace development for client Hines. The interventions were considered and light touch, including a new double-storey extension and a lift and stair core created at the centre of the complex.
Bespoke engineering solutions were used on each of the five retained buildings. For two of the building, the existing load-bearing cast iron columns could not be strengthened and a new internal steel frame was introduced to support the additional massing above.
The existing structure of two other retained buildings was justified with minimal strengthening works and by limiting the additional massing weight at the roof level. On the fifth, the facade and basement were retained, and the internal structure was demolished and replaced with a new steel frame.
Tower Hamlets Town Hall
Tower Hamlets Town Hall took home the award for Refurbishment. The landmark project transformed the Grade II listed former Royal London Hospital into a modern and sustainable civic centre for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
It was a complex design project that involved extensive structural interventions, including the removal of large sections of the existing floor slab to create a new central atrium and circulation space, strengthening the existing concrete frame to meet current standards and accommodate new loads and integration of new steel-framed extensions.Highlighting our creative and collaborative approach to structural engineering, as well as our commitment to creating spaces – not just aesthetically and commercially – but for the benefit of the planet and people who use them every day.