NEWS
SOVIBRANT PROJECT WINS AT REGIONAL
BCO AWARDS SoVibrant project ‘The Bonding Warehouse’, has won at the British Council for Offices (BCO) Regional Awards with the refurbishment and extension of this iconic Grade II listed building in York.
One of the UK’s leading independent strategic creative consultancies, SoVibrant was lead designer for Grantside’s ‘The Bonding Warehouse’. The company is delighted that the project has been announced as the winner of the ‘Refurbished / Recycled Workplace’ category at the BCOs North of England, North Wales and NI Regional Awards ceremony, held at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester in April.
The project involved the refurbishment and extension of a flood-damaged, Grade II listed building on the banks of the River Ouse in York, within the Central Historic Core Conservation Area. Previously used as a nightclub and bar, the building had been unoccupied for approximately 10 years and was showing severe signs of disrepair.
Now housing high quality office space, which has attracted fresh business to the city centre, The Bonding Warehouse boasts four penthouse apartments, including York's first £1m luxury penthouse.
A core extension has been sympathetically added too, featuring a bridge link constructed from first floor level to allow access to and exit from the building in times of flood.
Commenting on the win, SoVibrant co-founder and strategy and transformation director, Helen Nicol, said: “We’re delighted our hard work has been recognised! It was the design team’s intention from the outset to produce a high quality scheme, using modern methods of construction that befits the importance of the site. The new additions to the existing building complement the original architecture as well as being sensitive to the surrounding urban fabric of York.
“This project involved a number of complex conservation and planning issues and we demonstrated clearly our ability to combine both the technical and conceptual requirements for the project, given its sensitive nature as well as our aptitude for designing the space from the inside out.”
www.sovibrant.co.uk
WHAT I LEARNT THIS MONTH Liz Kentish
When a client pronounces: “what we need is more chairs” and gives a request to the procurement department for a suitable supplier, then they will usually get what they want.
On the other hand, if it is not a physical item you might struggle. If it is about behaviours, interpersonal skills and getting teams to understand a different way of working, it’s not as simple as asking the right department.
For the companies tasked with coming up with the right solution to these types of personnel issues, you can run into problems. In this scenario the information won’t come directly from the client; the person who has the matter to resolve, so you risk crossed wires and a whole host of communication issues.
If you do not know what the real problem is, how can you come up with the correct solution and how could you price it?
Always question the brief, because in most cases it is just a starting point, to get to the heart of the problem requires time to ask questions of the people affected. Doing so will provide an understanding of exactly what measures need to be taken and why, so that a solution can be formulated and delivered effectively and priced accordingly.
In many cases the solution may be a lot simpler than at first thought, which is great for the client and can be a quick fix.
So what have I learned this month? Keep asking questions until you get to the truth, only then can we add value by fixing the real problem and not just putting a sticking plaster over it.
08 | TOMORROW’S FM
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