Held on Tuesday (7 October), the event saw Corstorphine & Wright’s Northampton headquarters for Unusual Rigging receive the top Best of the Best award, as well as the prize for best corporate workplace.
Unusual Rigging was chosen for achieving the ‘very highest energy performance rating’ as well as being built on the values of the circular economy, judges said. Corstorphine & Wright described the office as a testbed for these principles, creating a building that can be dismantled and reused at the end of its lifespan.
Bennetts Associates’ new Edinburgh Futures Institute took home the Innovation award, while AHMM’s Norton Folgate redevelopment won for the best Refurbished/Recycled Workplace award.
Bennetts restored a category-A-listed hospital, the Old Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, turning it into the new Futures Institute for the University of Edinburgh. The 20,000m2 space was converted into a modern teaching facility and events venue. Judges highlighted the painstaking excavation under the main concourse to form a new auditorium.
AHMM’s masterplanned Norton Folgate scheme was delivered in partnership with Stanton Williams, Morris + Company, and DSDHA. It transformed a neglected site near Liverpool Street Station into six office buildings. The judges awarded it the Refurbished/Recycled Workplace prize for ‘weaving together sensitive restoration’ while ‘championing circular economy principles long before they became industry buzzwords’.
The work to renovate the conservation area site involved lifting the historic cobble streets during the development process, before relaying them after completion.
This year, a new Customer Experience category was divided into two awards and focused on ‘how well the UK’s offices are serving the people that occupy them’.
The Customer Experience – Corporate Occupier – award was won by NatWest’s new office at 250 Bishopsgate, designed by LOM Architecture. Judges described it as ‘an exemplar of operational best practice for insight-led customer experience’, with the preferences of 9,000 employees surveyed and considered in the design strategy.
The Customer Experience – Commercial Landlord – award went to the GPE Woolyard office conversion, by Cowie Montgomery Architects. Hailed as a ‘game-changer’ by the panel, the project was praised for its simplicity and ‘steam-punk’ aesthetic with integrated public realm that creates a ‘human-centred service’.
Make Architects founder Ken Shuttleworth was given the President’s Award for what judges described as his ‘outstanding contribution to the real estate industry’ over a 50-year career delivering a ‘portfolio of iconic, innovative and sustainable buildings’.
BCO president Helen Hare said: ‘Ken’s philosophy is not just about the architecture of an individual standalone building, it is about creating a place – one that must have a heart.
‘Ken has genuinely made a difference to our industry. His fearlessness in breaking down architectural boundaries, dedication to bringing through the next generation of architects, while supporting other aspects of the office sector, is why he is the perfect recipient of this year’s BCO President’s Award.’
Edinburgh Futures Institute won the Innovation Award – Bennetts Associates Architects
Shuttleworth’s recognition comes after Make Architects posted a pre-tax loss of more than £1 million for the second year in a row last month. The AJ reported that the company’s workforce had also reduced significantly, with the average number of employees in the Make group down from 165 to 124 in the year ending December 2024.
In a statement released to the AJ, a Make spokesperson said: ‘Despite the challenges, Make is now on an even keel, having recruited more people in recent months to deliver on key upcoming projects for the practice. We are optimistic for a stable year of growth ahead.’