BCO_National_Awards_2026_Suplement - Flipbook - Page 32
BCO Awards 2026
REFURBISHED / RECYCLED WORKPLACE
Sponsored by Saint-Gobain UK
Regional Winner
Refurbished / Recycled Workplace
The Midlands and Central England
19 Cornwall
Street
Birmingham
I
n the heart of
Birmingham’s Colmore
Business District, the team
behind 19 Cornwall Street has
triumphed with an ambitious
retrofit.
With its 32m-high central
lightwell, atrium and
communal roof terrace, this is
a project which is redefining
what Grade-A office space
in Birmingham can offer.
Designed by Associated
Architects for Kier Property, it
demonstrates the crucial role
a well-designed workplace
can play in fostering occupier
wellbeing and environmental
performance.
Originally a dated
1990s office building,
the transformation was
designed to bring the space
to the cutting edge of the
Birmingham office market.
Cycle facilities, a fitness
32 • ESTATES GAZETTE • October 2026
space and a landscaped
roof terrace sit alongside a
reworked atrium, encouraging
people to arrive, gather and
move through the building
differently. Roughly 4,000 sq ft
of rooftop photovoltaic panels,
combined with a fabric-first
approach, help it operate
around 66% better than the
UK office average for energy
use.
Materials were chosen
with sustainability at the
fore. They include joinery
from reclaimed floorboards,
PET felt panels made from
recycled plastic, seating
crafted from hemp and waste
wool, and raised access
flooring salvaged from Canary
Wharf and reprocessed on
site. The preservation of
the original concrete frame
and façade also significantly
reduced embodied carbon.
Client
Kier Property
Occupiers benefit from
smart, connected technology
throughout, alongside strong
sustainability credentials
including EPC A and
BREEAM Excellent, with
more still to come. The judges
felt that this refurbishment
was “an excellent example
of carefully measured
sympathetic intervention,
retaining and reusing existing
elements and recycled
materials wherever possible
to deliver a modern net zero
future-ready workplace”.
Architect
Associated Architects
M&E Engineer
Hydrock (Stantec)
Structural Engineer
SBK
Sustainability Consultant
Cundall
Contractor
Willmott Dixon Interiors
Developer
Kier Property
Agents
CBRE/Cushman & Wakefield
bco.org.uk
