Author
Wriggle Marketing
Date
30 October 2019
20 years of transformation for the HMRC & DWP estates
Our first work with HMRC and DWP dates way back to 1999 with the delivery of an office building on their Tyneview Park estate. This was followed by a further four office buildings on the Benton Park View Estate (the ‘Ministry’ in old money!). Since those major capital works, we have worked continuously with HMRC and DWP across their whole Newcastle Estate.
| The scale of the operation on the Newcastle Estate can be quite daunting; workspaces for 14,000 civil servants across a two and a half millions square foot estate spread over four sites in the Newcastle region. The scope of our current work takes our involvement to new levels – design for the full refurbishment of the HMRC offices to suit HMRC’s sea-change of working practice to a smart and agile setting. This started with the design and delivery of a national showcase floor. We are now in the third phase of rolling out the design across the HMRC Newcastle Estate. |
| Building on our experience with HMRC in Newcastle we have now been appointed for the design delivery of the HMRC regional centre in Liverpool which is to be for 4,000 HMRC staff. Across the country, HMRC employ around 60,000 staff. |
North expands in London
We continue to work with leading marine insurance group, North. For their new London office the design scheme is consistent with the Newcastle headquarters but has been given a fresh new update.
Splashes of the company’s signature red accent colour, combined with dark stained oak, granite and stylish black framed glazed partitions create a professional yet welcoming and inviting workplace.
Images from Newcastle adorn the walls to reinforce the company’s heritage and pride to be a Newcastle based company with a global reach.
South Shields 365 Regeneration masterplan
Project management of South Shields Transport Interchange for Muse Developments. Construction of the transport interchange, which forms phase two of the £100m South Shields 365 regeneration masterplan, began in April 2018 and included the replacement of the old Metro station and development of an integrated interchange. Completed in August 2019, the £21 million building brings together a modern bus station and relocated Metro station under one roof.
The landmark building, which is expected to be used by 7.5 million passengers a year, was designed by The Harris Partnership and constructed by Bowmer and Kirkland.
Team Trip 2019
Amsterdam
Arriving midday into Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, we had already prepared for cold and rainy weather. Our predictions correct, we headed for the train to the hotel with our umbrellas and waterproofs at the ready.
First stop, lunch at Bleu before a tuk tuk sightseeing tour, where we visited the hotspots of Amsterdam in style. Then it was time to catch the ferry across to A’DAM Lookout, Amsterdam’s only observation deck with unrivalled panoramic views of the city.
Our evening began with a private canal cruise, exploring the city by water with ample beer and wine to hand. Onto dinner at De Zagarij followed by drinks at the neighbouring bar, before calling it a night.
A bright and early start on Friday morning. Delving into the Dutch culture, we arrived at Simonehoeve, where we were welcomed into a traditional cheese farm and clog factory and given our very own pair of wooden clogs to decorate. A lot of laughs were had differentiating the project managers’ clogs from the interior designers’.
Back to the city centre for lunch at Foodhallen, an old tram station with 21 stands full of food from around the world, followed by an afternoon of culture in the museums and a self guided tour around the Heineken Experience.
Our final meal was at Ron Gastrobar Downtown, where we tried a ‘rice table’ which is a selection of street food from Indonesian and Dutch cuisines. Highly recommended, but, beware of the spice carts!
An amazing end to an incredibly well organised and memorable team bonding trip. Thank you to those who made a historical Amsterdam such an outstanding trip.
Read the full blog post on our trip to Amsterdam here – /news/blog/team-trip-to-amsterdam
Fundraising for ‘Feed My People’
This summer, some very brave members of the Ward Robinson team tackled a rainy Tough Mudder Yorkshire in aid of ‘Feed My People’.
We would like to say a huge thankyou to everybody who donated so generously to this amazing cause. Our team exceed their target and raised a total of £2,053!
To read more about the work ‘Feed My People’ does and how your donations will help, visit our website.
There is still time to donate, if you would still like to contribute to our fundraising page, please follow the link – https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/wardrobinson
Who’s new at Ward Robinson
A new face in the office…
Jade Nicholson
Interior designer
Jade is an enthusiastic interior designer with a strong work ethic and an eye for detail. Experienced in all aspects of the design process, Jade particularly enjoys seeing designs come to life. With a broad set of skills, Jade has a keen interest in visualisation, helping to give others a real understanding of the design through 3D modelling.