Surface Design Awards – Complete

• COMMERCIAL BUILDING - INTERIOR
  Commercial Buildings that are used for commercial purposes, and include retail, hospitality, workplaces, factories and warehouses and buildings where commercial services are provided. At least 50 percent of the buildings’ floor space will be used for commercial activities.

The brief from CEG to Ekho Studio was to design a professional, interesting and fluid building amenity space, with the capacity to hold events and to encompass a really good café offer, that
would be both aspirational and affordable. The ground floor amenities needed to build on the unique architectural identity of Globe Point and to generate a sense of place. Globe Point being
an impressive and unique building standing proudly in it's flat-iron form as the first piece of the jigsaw to CEG's TEMPLE masterplan and vision for this post-industrial South of the riverbank
landscape in Leeds. This was to be an environment to embrace building users and the wider community by offering a place for informal meetings and work, anchored by a quality F+B offer.

The Design response:

The ambition was to create a space with high visual impact via state-of-the-art AV, whilst also celebrating the ‘warp, weave and weft’ of craft, through the interesting application of tactile and
natural, eco-conscious, healthy materials. The aesthetic intent and overall ambience needed to speak the language of the wider Holbeck area, which is currently full of creative, independent
companies but which has little in the way of good quality public amenities, specifically environments which nurture casual business encounters. The aspiration was for Globe Point to
be a magnet for pioneers and creatives, whose drive and innovation will continue to spark the city’s continued growth.

The design aesthetic and language transitions and flexes to respond to the various functions within the ground floor space, so that all areas work seamlessly alongside one another, from the
arrival space and host point to a meeting and co-working space, a café and a gathering and events space, all exuding an inviting atmosphere and a typically-Yorkshire sense of welcome.
The aesthetic response builds on the wider project influences, ensuring the ground floor space has meaning and is rooted in context. The space and settings feel instantly comfortable and
accessible to all building visitors through careful material choices, soft lighting and abundant planting.

A mix of natural and highly tactile choices such as cork, timbers and textured clay wall renders are contrasted against the statement monolithic black cafe servery bar with pendant
lighting above, allowing the transition from day to evening use. The scheme’s bespoke artwork pieces further reflect and celebrate the grainy architectural richness of the area, referencing
some of the local landmarks synonymous with this post industrial landscape of Leeds, whilst a large video wall creates opportunities for events and social gatherings.

The cafe space is the real focal point and the offer really brings together people within the space, offering the perfect opportunity to dwell. The large servery counter and bulkhead feature
can be easily seen from the street outside, with the premise that this is a space as much for the wider Leeds community to embrace, as it is for the customers of the building. The angularity of
the building footprint influenced the monolithic form of the servery counter, which sits adjacent to a purpose built commercial grade kitchen. The cafe operation is now delivering a high-end, hip
Milanese style espresso cafe. The food offer extends to delicious homemade pasta, baked goods and with a beer and wine offering, further underpinning the ambitions for this to become a
neighbourhood evening and weekend venue.

The colour story and materiality really embody the story of the space in many ways too. The scheme’s planting, for example, is housed in various style of pots made from reclaimed whisky
barrels, recycled metal pots and upcycled plastic bottles, which are subtle but unique, whilst the scheme’s three bespoke artworks, commissioned from Leeds artist Melody Sutherland, are
informed by the Temple area boasting intriguing textures, with a layered design that is set into 70-mm-deep timber frame boxes. The vivid colourways - one in a pink and two predominantly
blue and orange were developed in tangent with the TEMPLE brand identity, created by Thompson Brand Partnership.

Project Completion / Handover - September 2022.
Project Costs - £850,000

The building’s architecture is celebrated and referenced through the ceiling forms and the bespoke crafted joinery details that tie in with the wider building design. The architectural
scallop form that features on the crest of the building facade and throughout upper floor lift lobbies, is further integrated into the bespoke joinery elements embracing the host point and
cafe servery.

The design celebrates the dichotomy between the grainy, hard-industrial heritage of Holbeck and its progressive, digital future. The final scheme tells this story in a fusion of two kinds of
materiality – the rustic and the highly sustainable, together with super-smooth and more obviously ‘designed’ elements, allowing the two strands to come together in a subtle, seamless
and occasionally abstract way to celebrate people, craft, sustainability and technology.

The design celebrates the use of basic fabrication materials, including chipboard and cork, both sustainable resources, renewable and biodegradable. The ’rustic’ and ‘high tech’ materiality blend can then be seen through the addition of large format acoustic ceiling panels from Kvadrat’s Soft Cell range, and the dark blue matte wall linings utilising the Fenix range by Arpa. The expressed coffered soffits in the café space are lined with Woodwool – a rigid board made of strands of straw, with great acoustic properties – whilst the internal walls feature a beautiful and warm toned clay render from Clayworks,
providing a healthy, breathable finish.

The host point and café servery counters are formed of recycled solid surface material Durat, with the café flooring a rustic, graded, engineered timber.

The ground floor space brings the overall building offer to life, whilst also defining CEG’s sustainable directions - it tells the story of a sustainable space through the scheme, prioritising natural, renewable, low impact, reclaimed or high-recycled-content materials.

From a wider building perspective:

- BREEAM Excellent both design and construction stage
- EPC A was delivered for PC and that was done without any solar panels which highlights the optimising and efficiencies of the system design.
- NABERS rating of 4.5 stars
- All Electric Building
- Designed to meet the criteria of WELL Ready.
- Wiredscore Platinum achieved
- Facade design volumetrics - through the use of UHPFRC 60 cubic metres of concrete from the wall build up was avoided (or the equivalent of 160 tonnes of concrete and reinforcement) delivering carbon benefits whilst achieving a panelised façade into a building that looked as close to hand-laid construction as possible

The scheme is furnished with as many UK-manufactured products as possible, celebrating British furniture design and manufacturing and minimising delivery distances and lead times. Sofas from MARK in Cornwall; loose furniture from VG&P in Walthamstow and upholstery fabrics from the isle of Bute and Yorkshire based Camira.

The 2 most prominent material applications being Clayworks and Durat.

Manufactured in Cornwall from abundant raw materials, Clayworks are amongst the most sustainable and healthy wall finishes available - recyclable, compostable, re-useable, and containing absolutely no toxic ingredients or VOCs.

Durat - made with recycled post-industrial plastics, including 30% recycled Acrylic and shimmering flecks of natural mineral pigments.

The fire engineering of the building meant all internal finishes to fixed elements had to adhere to Class O surface spread of flames. Whilst an eco board product was originally intended for bespoke elements (bulkheads, wall linings etc,) the product is not guaranteed to meet these requirements, even with a lacquer application. This led to the alternative choice of chipboard.

The bespoke chipboard scallop panelling is a different radial profile across each of the surfaces - owing to the nature of how this detail interfaces with other joinery elements. This relied on detailed drawings and specific CNC machine calibrations, working closely between designer and specialist joinery sub-contractors.

The original intent for the clay render was a heavy rustic finish. The basebuild perimeter walls were already lined with 2 layers of plasterboard upon commencement of the interior design, which informed a spec change to a demi-rustic finish, suitable for application onto such a substrate (a heavier grain requires a more substantial substrate board such as plywood.) Furthermore, the uneven, heavy aggregate of the clay impacted detail junctions against the interfaces with the sharp edges of the shell, particularly in the window reveals.

Externally, utilising precast also meant pre-fabrication of the radial scallop at the point of the building was possible, including the compound curved entrance which is one of the most striking features of the building. It’s doubtful whether this could have been laid traditionally and achieved the same level of detail and quality we were able to create on the project.

The building launched in September 2022, and 12 months on is almost fully let, welcoming occupiers from creative, digital, media, and IT sectors. This in itself is testament to the success and the quality of the development.

Designed to BREEAM Excellent, the iconic flat iron building shape has enabled maximal natural daylight to deliver high-quality and memorable environments which boast healthy and flexible blended work and social space. The café kitchen and co-work lounge creates a vibrant ground-floor use within a striking internal setting at the gateway to the Temple development.