Electric Works, managed by Creative Space Management, has been announced as the overall winner of the British Council of Offices (BCO) Award for Innovation 2011. The prestigious award was landed by Electric Works for its combination of high design values, state of the art IT and for its approaches to generating a collaborative and energising atmosphere.
The Innovation Award is given to the project that demonstrates new approaches to the provision of workspace. The judging panel commented that Electric Works in Sheffield proved its innovative credentials across a range of measures through the very strong partnership between Sheffield City Council and the highly motivated private sector operator, Creative Space Management, which seems to really understand the needs of its customers. The BCO panel comments are summarised below….
The building displays its commitment to design in particular through the high quality furniture and furnishings. In fact, the building also acts as a showroom for products from furniture designer Vitra.
The reception of the building is dominated by a three-storey permanent helter skelter, the only example in a UK office building. It takes seven seconds to descend the 85-foot slide. Yet what is interesting is that, despite the sheer presence and iconic nature of this interactive installation, it is not the building itself that promotes the collaborative and energising atmosphere, but the way that the team has set up and managed how the communal spaces are used. The programme of interaction between the occupants energises the building and reminds visitors that this is a unique and thriving community of creative and technology businesses.
The creative, digital and technology sectors are enjoying fast growth in Sheffield and Electric Works, in the centre of the city next to the main train station, is providing a hub for these industries. The building provides a variety of options for organisations to take any amount of space on a mixture of different tenures. The workspace can cater for a freelancer or sole trader up to a larger company of 60 staff. Space is offered on very flexible contracts or no commitment at all for one-off requirements, meetings and events hosting. Virtual offices are offered with project space, hot-desk business lounge and drop-in services. The building provides state of the art IT facilities and plug and play offices.
Electric Works not only encourages small businesses to experiment and facilitate their expansion, the tenants are also provided with the opportunity to interact and collaborate in a way that is often talked about but not always achieved. One of the options available allows individuals to take out a club membership allowing them to meet up in a highly interactive space in the heart of the building. Connectivity benefits were noted through one member who uses the high bandwidth available to stream videos to India for testing for bugs overnight so that programmers can fix any errors the next day.
