In addition, a stylish ground floor café and lounge space is being fitted out, which will be available to all building users, as well as a separate event space for Spacemade members.

Spacemade will occupy first floor at 10 Brindleyplace, where we are currently delivering an ESG-focused £40m back-to-frame redevelopment of the whole building. We are working with Willmott Dixon Interiors to deliver the new facility, on behalf of Spacemade and CBRE Investment Management.

Works are expected to complete in Q2 2023.

The post Spacemade Kicks Off appeared first on Associated Architects.

Alongside Birmingham City University’s STEAMhouse team we showcased the opportunities presented by Virtual and Augmented Reality in the architectural profession. They experienced the technology for themselves and learnt from three of our architects and the STEAMhouse Team about how this drives innovation, improves how we communicate design proposals, and ultimately improves the places we create.

Architectural Assistant Lauren Francis who took part in the event said

“Giving girls hands-on experience of the technology we use everyday is an ideal way to introduce them to a career in architecture and the built environment, especially as it as an area that they might not immediately think of when they consider careers in tech. My colleagues and I really enjoyed answering everyone’s questions and showing them what we can do, and we hope that this has made them consider architecture as a career option.”

Also taking part were representatives from Sega, Khan Digital Story Lab, Pervasive Media, Aston University, and Mozilla Hubs.

Associated Architects will return to the Midlands Arts Centre this summer with our own “She Built That” event, a day for female secondary school pupils interested in careers in architecture and the built environment.

The post Exploring the Future of Architectural Tech with the Next Generation appeared first on Associated Architects.

The state-of-the-art 12,000sq.m facility spans five floors and features a double-height atrium. The development aims to not only bring together many of the institution’s engineering disciplines, but also provide opportunities for successful collaboration between academia and the industry.

Procured through the Constructing West Midlands framework, the School of Engineering puts industry at the heart of the University’s campus, alongside the £16.4m UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems.

Our design for the facility was curated specifically with agile and collaborative working between academics, researchers, students, and staff, in mind. The development offers open plan spaces and cellular facilities including a dedicated Student Support Hub, a new 179-capacity Design Centre, a 50-seat electronics and electrical focused projects space, 20 flexi-bays specifically allocated for staff and student interactions, three 50-seat seminar rooms and also features 160 drop-in study spaces throughout the building.

The basement also houses a full-size set of railway points, the University’s pantograph test rig and a test track for the scaled hydrogen-powered train – further expanding the university’s commitment to the integration of academia and industry.

The School of Engineering was delivered by contractor Wilmott Dixon, while M&E and Structural Engineering was provided by ARUP.

Nick Gibb, Deputy Managing Director for the Midlands at Willmott Dixon, said:

“We are delighted to have completed such a significant development, both regionally and within the sector – the facility is set to pioneer advancements within engineering and digital systems research.

Despite completing the final stages of the project during the Covid-19 pandemic, our teams optimised industry-leading safety and social distancing measures, which meant we were able to remain on-site throughout the pandemic and ultimately deliver the project to the agreed timescales. This development is the fifth major partnership we have entered into with the University of Birmingham.

One of our main aspirations for this development was to provide a highly energy-efficient building. Throughout the project we implemented a sustainability strategy to ensure the facility would be built and operated in an energy efficient way right from the outset, including the optimisation of Passivhaus design measures. These efforts, combined with the adoption of our industry-leading Energy Synergy™ process has enabled us to predict that 45% of the building’s energy consumption will come from unregulated sources, such IT equipment, lab equipment and external lighting. These sources are highly linked to occupant usage and can fluctuate throughout the building’s lifecycle.”

The School of Engineering demonstrates the university’s commitment to providing first-class engineering education. We have ensured it supports the university’s aim to improve student experience, allowing engineering undergraduate and postgraduate students to get involved in cutting-edge research and ensuring students graduate with a strong connection to the industry.

Warren Jukes, Director at Associated Architects, said:

“This scheme has afforded us the opportunity to design a beacon of engineering excellence, to attract the world’s best academics and students to the University of Birmingham. The project was a major engineering feat in its own right, and we take immense pride in overcoming the challenges it brought. We feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work closely with the School of Engineering, University and Willmott Dixon to realise such an inspiring facility that will enable growth and achieve research excellence.”

Head of the University of Birmingham’s School of Engineering, Professor Clive Roberts, said:

“We are delighted to receive the keys to the newly built School of Engineering. We are committed to providing the best facilities for our staff, students and researchers, as well as enabling collaboration with our industry partners and encouraging different and more flexible ways of working.

“We are passionate about educating the next generation of engineers. Alongside accessing features such as the Design Centre and our expanded computer labs, our new building provides students with the opportunity to work with engineers across the disciplines. Their learning will mirror the workplace, encouraging and developing their understanding of industry and their role within it.

“The new building also sits alongside our new centre of excellence in railway innovation, the UK Railway Research Innovation Network (UKRRIN) Digital Systems Innovation Centre, placing industry at the heart of our campus. In the coming months, we are looking forward to opening its doors to welcome staff, students and industry partners.”

The post University of Birmingham School of Engineering Completes appeared first on Associated Architects.

Director James Hall who led the Nexus project for AA said:

“The BCO Awards recognise high quality design, functionality and commerciality and we are delighted to receive this commendation. Nexus sets a new tone among innovation sector buildings not just at the University of Leeds, but in the sector as a whole. Instead of being a “university” space its a professional commercial space, based around people and space, offering rentable spaces, collaboration spaces, and access to experts/equipment that creates a vibrant, inspiring and connected innovation community.”

The £42 million Nexus enables the University of Leeds to meet their strategic objective of increasing income from research and establishing themselves as UK-leading in innovation and enterprise. Conceived as a business facing front door for the university, it provides a high-profile physical focal point for stimulating collaboration between external companies and other public/private organisations leading to new projects and income streams.

The 6EP project saw the transformation of Barclays House, a tired 1980s building in central Leeds. What followed was a comprehensive, high quality brand-led internal and external redevelopment of the site creating 45,000sq.ft of Grade A office space in the city’s Prime Office Quarter. By working closely and collaboratively with Evenacre we created a striking new existence for 6EP, driving incredible value from what was previously an under-performing asset. In addition, energy efficiency was improved by 80%.

Associate Director Steve Townsend who led the project for AA said:

“Evanacre and Bridges Fund Management had a strong vision for this project: upon arrival, visitors should feel that they have entered something that is different from everything else – considered, interesting and unique. This demonstrates that not only did we succeed in realising that vision, but also that it is a benchmark for excellence in refurbished workplaces. This is a great result, especially as it was a highly competitive shortlist this year.”

The post Nexus and 6EP recognised by BCO appeared first on Associated Architects.

The programme, which is one of 11 shovel ready projects in the region, has been awarded £2.89m through the Getting Build Fund, which the University has match funded.

Andrew Proctor, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Digital) at Staffordshire University, said:

“The facilities will help fuel the local economy and transform the health workforce by encouraging and supporting health technology start-ups, creating jobs, and promoting economic growth in the region. Alongside this, students and partners will benefit from leading healthcare education through our new clinical simulation and immersion suites. We look forward to seeing our campus and wider communities transformed through this exciting development.”

The contract will provide a valuable economic boost to Stafford and the surrounding area as Pave Aways will be employing locally-based site staff and businesses in their supply chain.

Our design significantly extends the existing campus facilities to provide new spaces for learning, socialising, and events. A light-filled atrium space will become a new social heart for the campus, surrounded by modern teaching spaces equipped with state-of-the-art training facilities that will deliver a curriculum fit for 2020 and beyond. A key component of the project has been to develop an engaging and iconic façade – an expansive glazed area provides a large picture window to contrast the Siberian larch timber cladding with feature projecting fins that are arranged to express the Staffordshire Knot that appears in the University’s logo.

Associated Architects Director James Hall said

“It is excellent to see this project moving forward. The building will provide an incredibly useful space for the institution, meeting their growing needs and ensuring that they deliver the very best specialist healthcare teaching and keeping them among the best in the sector. The new social space, refurbished library, and extended café will also ensure students and staff have an excellent experience outside of the classroom.”

The post Centre of Excellence for Healthcare Education gathers pace appeared first on Associated Architects.

Building contractor, Speller Metcalfe, has now reached the highest point of the new building, based on Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone, and a virtual topping out ceremony has marked the occasion.

The new building is a joint venture between the University of Wolverhampton and Herefordshire Council, part-funded by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Despite work temporarily halted on the site due to pandemic lockdown restrictions in March, Speller Metcalfe carried out a phased return recently with a reduced workforce, in line with revised protocols and protective measures enabling progress.

The new building has generated 80% spend locally within 30 miles of the project which includes subcontractors Folbig Fabrications, Hereford Asbestos Services, Herefordshire Council Building Control and Quickskip, based close to the site at Rotherwas.

The new centre incorporates a full height glass atrium to provide a dual break-out space and function hall, alongside the main three storey building that houses business suites, innovation rooms, IT workshops and a ‘Cyber Range’ – a cutting edge facility that will defend against the global rise of hacking.  The building is constructed using a glulam and CLT frame, with a high quality exposed visual timber finish. The roof structure is to be glue-laminated timber beams with diagonal feature bracing and rafters with triangulated roof-lights integrated. The CLT and glulam hybrid structure has sequestered 30 tonnes of CO2e (the equivalent steel/concrete equivalent would have emitted 563 tonnes of CO2e).

Councillor David Hitchiner, Leader of Herefordshire Council, said

“In this time of crisis it’s good to be able to recognise the continued development of the Cyber Quarter – Midlands Centre for Cyber Security, developing a world-class facility focused on cyber security, an area where there is already considerable interest and expertise. The Centre will retain skills in the County as well as attracting highly skilled people to live and work here. We know both will be key in the County’s economic recovery in the months and years ahead.”

Andrew Manning-Cox, Chair of Hereford Enterprise Zone, Skylon Park and a non-executive director of the Marches LEP, said

“I am delighted to be taking part in the virtual topping out ceremony. This project marks the culmination of a huge amount of effort and is the product of coordinated funding support from a number of partners. In today’s society we can see how vital it is that businesses have security of their IT and information, all the more important with the ability to work remotely and from different locations around the world. This underlines the relevance and importance of having a new Cyber Centre in Herefordshire.”

Professor Geoff Layer, Vice Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said

“Together with our partners I’m delighted that this new building will soon be open. It’s a magnificent new Centre that brings to Hereford a brand new research and innovation, training and incubation start-up that focuses on how we can develop the skills of the future with the research and innovation that many of our companies need. This is a major innovation in the area and one that will firmly put Hereford on the map in terms of cyber security.”

The 2,000 square metre building will provide significant resources for research and development across three cyber laboratories, advanced training facilities as part of the University’s Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute and additional business space for up to 16 cyber companies.

The centre, which secured £2.82m of funding via the Marches LEP’s Growth Deal with Government in 2017, is part of the new Cyber Quarter at Skylon Park, already home to numerous defence and security sector businesses.

The Cyber Quarter – Midlands Centre for Cyber Security will be open in the autumn of 2020. Take a look at the gallery below to see recent progress photos and visuals of what the completed building will look like.

The post Cyber Quarter tops out appeared first on Associated Architects.

10 Brindleyplace is set to be reinvented with a complete replacement of its façades, a generous new double height reception space accessed from both Oozells Square and Broad Street, large modern open plan office floors and a range of occupier amenity facilities.

We are designing the ambitious programme of refurbishment works, which combines buildings 10 and 8 Brindleyplace into one building. A total of almost 175,000 sq.ft of high quality grade A office space will be created, with one of Birmingham’s largest available office floorplates at over 27,000 sq.ft.

The redevelopment of the building, which is being led by Thamesis Asset Management, on behalf of building owner CBRE Global Investors, will have a strong emphasis on sustainable design and occupier wellness.

The scheme will achieve BREEAM Excellent and it will be Birmingham’s first building to receive Fitwel accreditation, a standard that measures occupant health and wellbeing.

Occupier amenities will include an on-site café, fitness facilities including a fitness studio and bouldering wall, cycle storage for 100 bicycles, electric vehicle charging and two communal roof terraces.

In addition, smart building technologies will be deployed to provide real-time energy monitoring and enhance user experience.

Steve Townsend, Associate Director at Associated Architects, said:

“The design of 10 Brindleyplace places the building users at the heart, with customer experience and wellbeing central to the design approach.

The building will have a bold new brand and identity, which is carried through all aspects of the interior styling.

The striking new reception area will be the centrepiece of the new building, linked with a range of associated occupier facilities across the whole of the ground floor space.”

Theo Holmes, Director in CBRE’s office agency team, added:

“10 Brindleyplace sets a new benchmark for the reinvention of existing office space in Birmingham, with a high standard of fitout and a range of building amenities that rivals the very best office buildings in Birmingham. It will raise the already-high bar in the city.

The building is located in a prominent position within the Brindleyplace estate, benefitting from the new metro line on its doorstep.

This redevelopment is a green leader and with its range of wellness initiatives, it is well suited to any occupier with a focus on health and wellbeing.”

The works are being project managed by Workman LLP and will commence on site in autumn 2020. CBRE and Savills are acting as joint agents for the office space. Work will complete in early 2022.

The post Birmingham’s largest office refurbishment scheme given green light by planners appeared first on Associated Architects.

The provision of new facilities allows the School of Health and Social Care to offer sector-leading facilities that will attract new students who will benefit from the latest cutting-edge simulation and virtual and augmented reality technology. The Centre provides specialist teaching facilities for delivering healthcare learning to undergraduates, postgraduates and professionals in subjects such as midwifery, nursing, and paramedic science.

The current expansion project connects two existing spaces and will provide a wide range of new training and simulation facilities, as well a contemporary new social atrium space to support student activities to create a strong sense of community in this rural location.

Pictured here, the new atrium will create a wrap-around structure to change the façade of the School and create a visually attractive frontage. This will provide an appealing and useful space for independent learning, general socialising, and hosting events such as musical performances, social gatherings, ‘Profs in the Atrium’ and informal teaching through guest lectures. In addition, a much-needed large sub-dividable space will be provided for teaching and significant events such as exams, conferences and Open Days. A series of life-like simulation settings such as an outpatients clinic room, domestic bathroom setting and outdoor spaces are provided so that students from across the health programmes can learn and practice in a realistic environment. All areas will be equipped with audio-visual observation systems to allow for assessment and peer-to-peer debriefing, providing the richest of learning material.

The post Healthcare Centre of Excellence expansion plans approved appeared first on Associated Architects.

This brief was to significantly redevelop the building’s second and third floors, the home to the university’s Language Centre. The aim was to provide new state-of-the-art sector-leading teaching and learning facilities for its staff and students to create a modern, attractive, flexible environment for learning, socialising and working.

The brief required both refurbishment of spaces, provision of new spaces and there was a desire for improvements to the building fabric and M&E such as improved lighting and ventilation to provide a more comfortable and energy-efficient environment. Sustainability was also a key driver with all materials and build-ups requiring A or A+ Green Guide ratings.

Associate James Lumb said,

“One of the most important factors in the success of this project was the excellent working relationship between the design team, delivery team, and client – we were all thoroughly committed to having a positive impact on the historic nature of the building and to bringing innovative solutions to the project. Associated Architects, and those of us in the Leeds office in particular, are thoroughly looking forward to further projects at the University of Leeds.”

Among the wider team were:

• Main Contractor: Overbury
• Project Manager: Gardiner & Theobald
• M&E Consultant: Redworth Associates
• Quantity Surveyor: C.S. Charlesworth
• Principal Designer: Associated Architects
• Fire Engineering Consultant: Design Fire Consultants
• Acoustic Engineering Consultant: MZA Consulting Engineers
• Civil & Structural Consultant: Roscoe

Read more here.

The post Team effort leads to success for Grade II listed refurbishment appeared first on Associated Architects.

Our £30 million scheme, Enterprise Wharf, is being developed by Bruntwood SciTech at the AA-masterplanned Innovation Birmingham campus, located in the city’s Eastside area next to the new HS2 station, Aston University, and Birmingham City University.

The building will feature a large, open plan reception and collaboration space, cycle storage and kit drying room, showers and a roof garden and will be delivered alongside new outdoor breakout space, landscaping and public realm, including improved access to the adjacent Birmingham and Fazeley canal.

James Hall, Director said:

“When Enterprise Wharf is completed in 2022, it will provide contemporary, flexible office space with high quality shared facilities for technology-focussed tenants. They will also be drawn to Innovation Birmingham’s ever-growing community. Already over 170 businesses are located there making it the UK’s largest dedicated digital tech campus of entrepreneurs, start-ups, scale ups and large corporates working in high growth sectors such as edtech, sportstech, medtech, VR, AR and cybersecurity.”

David Hardman, Managing Director, Bruntwood SciTech – Birmingham, said:

“The West Midlands is home to an ever-expanding digital tech ecosystem. Connecting start-ups with global corporates and the public sector is crucial to its evolution. Enterprise Wharf will help to expand our innovation community and help the sector flourish.”

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, added:

“A thriving digital economy is essential for the city’s future and Enterprise Wharf will provide the kind of quality infrastructure that’s needed to entice established players to Birmingham, while also helping to catalyse future success stories from within our community of entrepreneurs.”

The post Enterprise Wharf for Bruntwood SciTech gets planning nod appeared first on Associated Architects.