Winner: BCO Awards 2016, Best Commercial Workplace
The British Council for Offices (BCO) recognised The Core as the Best Commercial Workplace 2016 in the area covering North of England, North Wales and Northern Ireland at the annual awards ceremony held in The Lowry, Manchester on 20 April.
The Core on Science Central, Newcastle upon Tyne first opened a year ago with 90% pre-lettings. It has since established itself as a niche building for a research and business community working on Future City themes with an associated events programme. Following on from its successful first year, plans for a series of other new research and workspace buildings are moving forward on surrounding Newcastle Helix plots with over £100m of additional development now in various stages of design.
Creative Space has been involved in the project from the outset, first in developing a specification and business plan in 2012, then in working with the architects and design team on development of the fit-out project and finally as operators of the building.
The Core was described by judges as a property that embodies sustainability, with one of its most striking features being the seven-storey living wall – a vertical garden that is home to ivy, seagrass, thyme, primulas, euphorbia, strawberries and bee hotels.
Paul Fallon of Creative Space said “This is welcome recognition not only for the developers and stakeholders of The Core – notably Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University – but for the design team and contractors behind the project and the many firms that have subsequently had a hand in steering the way the building is used. Special mention should go to Lisa Tolan and Fiona Melvin who, between them, have guided the operation of the building and its events programme since its opening.”
“Years of work have gone in to moving this project from blueprint to the stage where it is fully occupied and generating a strong reputation for Science Central as a home for sustainable development and particularly for future-facing firms that are tackling many of the most important challenges that society faces.”
“It’s going to an exciting few years as other world-class workspaces and research facilities come out of the ground around The Core. There are encouraging signs that this is only the start of the acknowledgements that Science Central will attract.”
The Core was developed with funding support from ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and Regional Growth Fund. The BCO Awards 2016 is the annual awards ceremony organised by the British Council of Offices.