Riverside Offices up for RICS and BCO Awards

Our Riverside Offices, Lowestoft, project has been shortlisted for both an RICS Award and a BCO Award.

The project is up for the corporate workplace category at the British Council of Offices Midlands and East Anglia Awards Lunch in Birmingham in April. The regional RICS Awards event will take place in May, with the project nominated in the commercial category. The winners of the regional awards will then be shortlisted for the National events later in the year.

The new office is in use by Suffolk and Waveney District Councils, and is based on an enterprise zone in Lowestoft. The project vision was to create a work environment in which staff could (to quote from the project brief) ‘…perform and deliver services more effectively and efficiently for the benefit of our citizens – At the same time the programme will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of Lowestoft town centre.’

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The developed scheme received positive support at public and user group consultation stages and feedback received was instrumental in the refinement of the design. The strategy evolved in response to the key objectives identified in the brief, creating an efficient plan form that is site responsive, flexible and is based on environmentally responsible and sustainable design principles.
The scheme comprises of open plan floor space with meeting rooms and shared facilities formed off an attractive 3 storey atrium.

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The use of traditional materials that require low maintenance in a modern interpretation, with the careful introduction of colour, has created a design solution that is appropriate to the functionality of the building, which is carefully designed to respond to the local context, enabling an uplifting design solution with an integrated landscaping strategy

Trevor Price, Partner at LSI Architects, commented that Riverside Offices is “an attractive, welcoming and highly successful building that sits well
in this part of Lowestoft which is in dire need of regeneration; Riverside Offices is a characterful, memorable building which has become a strong focal point in the local context.
The building also incorporates a series of modern effective, efficient and expressive interior spaces which enables staff to interact and collaborate, and helps both Councils in the formation of a motivated and happy workforce. The project has been honed from working in collaboration with stakeholders, user groups and local authorities, and is designed and built on sound responsible sustainable principles. All this achieved within a mid-range budget and to a demanding programme, and we’re delighted that the project is up for two fantastic awards.

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