Property Company II

What we found

Located in the heart of Manchester city centre, Lowry House, owned by Bruntwood limited, has just undergone a dramatic transformation and redefined its external and internal space and the way it uses both. The building, designed by famous architects Robert Swift and Partners was originally occupied by the Lloyd Entwistle bank and later became the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank.

Bruntwood offers some of the highest quality office space in Liverpool, Warrington, Leeds and Manchester. It prides itself on the fact that everything it does is based around customer insight and is designed to make its customer's life as simple and convenient as possible.

Work Interiors has a long standing relationship with Bruntwood and has carried out a number of design and fit out projects for the company's buildings including the landmark West One building in the city centre of Leeds and Landmark House, Cheadle Hulme and now Lowry House in Manchester.

Throughout its 80 buildings Bruntwood has 800 customers from a range of sectors. They range in size from one-person start-ups to the government and multinationals, but each is as important as the other and each is a valued customer. When it decided to carry out the refurbishment of Lowry House it naturally turned to Work Interiors to design and fit out the reception area of the building.

What we did

The contract, which commenced late February 2007, was to provide the design and fit out of the reception space in the building so it created an immediate impact when people entered the building. Creating the right atmosphere for a building starts in the reception. From the moment a Bruntwood customer or one of its visitors enters a Bruntwood building it is imperative that it creates a sense of arrival, similar to the feeling of walking into a prestigious 5 star hotel.

Work Interiors, which has built a reputation for being one of the UK's most successful interior design and fit out companies, took a truly inspirational approach to designing a reception space that would ensure Lowry House was set worlds apart from its competitors. The focus was also on its passion for meeting the customer's deadlines and ensuring that the project was completed on time and that Bruntwood created a real impact in the city.

Penny Stirland Customer Service Manager responsible for Lowry House comments on the work "It's been a great pleasure to work with everyone from Work Interiors and we're immensely proud with the work they've delivered here. Timings were tight at the end of the project due to a launch we'd organised, but they did a great job in turning around our new reception, which everyone agrees is our best building entrance yet."

The reception space that Work Interiors has created is breathtaking. Elements include a striking combination of wood, metal and glass together with a dramatic double floor meeting area decorated in spectacular red hues. The open space also includes an impressive reception desk, a series of informal meeting areas, and a retail space. A new lift was added to transport visitors directly to the mezzanine floor which encompasses a series of multi function meeting spaces.

Making it work

Tom Jamieson, Managing Director of Work Interiors explains the company's inspiration behind the design:

"We have worked with Bruntwood on a number of projects in the North West so were able to get under the skin of its requirements pretty quickly. We are both like minded in our approach to meeting clients needs and the focus of the project for us was not only the design but the way in which the job was carried out and meeting all the deadlines set by the client. As Lowry House is situated right in the heart of Manchester's financial district we wanted to create a space that created a visual impact as soon as you walked through the front door as well as being equipped to cater for customers that demand a high spec, cutting edge office space that clearly meets, and, in fact, exceeds the demands on businesses operating in the area.

"The entire design and fit out process took 16 weeks and we worked with the client for nine months prior to that on the design and materials. Our designer Charlie Herries worked on the project where he took his inspiration from a grand hotel reception and first class airport departure lounges. We offered the client a ‘one stop shop' in terms of only one point of contact throughout the whole design and installation process. This in turn took the headache of managing lots of different companies, all vying for bigger chunks of the budget. The Work Interiors team was able to plan out the entire project to the finite detail, ensuring that it was finished on time and on budget."

Peter Crowther Development Director at Bruntwood sums up the work carried out: "We've just launched to agents in Manchester at which the feedback was resoundingly positive, which is a real credit to Work Interiors. We are all delighted to see the original idea and plans brought to fruition on time and to such a high quality."