CPW wins CIBSE WM Project of the Year Award
CPW is celebrating winning first place in the Project/Initiative of the Year Award at the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) West Midlands Awards for the second year in a row with the 10 Brindley Place.
10 Brindley Place is Birmingham’s biggest office fit-out and refurbishment scheme that puts wellness, sustainability and the latest technologies at the heart of its design. The CAT A refurbishment project involved merging two buildings into one, resulting in Birmingham’s largest available floorplates, with an impressive 27,000 square foot each over 12 floors. A truly sustainable design, the all-electric design features solar panels, EV charging spaces, rainwater harvesting and is efficient enough to save the equivalent of powering 117 homes for a year in comparison to a typical office.
Director Antonios Agapakis said: “We couldn’t be more pleased to win this award two years in a row. It’s a real testament to our commitment to delivering low-carbon, energy efficient buildings that offer state-of-the-art technology.
“At a time where staff health and wellbeing has never been more prominent, we’re pleased that this design was able to put end users at the heart of its approach - receiving a Fitwel 2 Star accreditation and packed with amenities like a bouldering wall and green features like living walls to reduce stress and improve wellbeing.
“It was a great team effort, collaborating with colleagues from CBRE, Associated Architects, Willmott Dixon, MGAC RLF and Cundall to produce this award-winning office redevelopment.”
Martin Trentham, CIBSE West Midlands Vice Chair, said: “This is the 4th year that we have presented the expanded awards ceremony and year on year its success as a platform to showcase the abundance of talent with their peers in the West Midlands region has grown, this was demonstrated with a record number of entries. The judges for this category had an extremely difficult decision, but felt that CPW’s entry for a high calibre project of this type, typifies where refurbishment projects, particularly in built-up city centre locations, will become common place and help reduce embedded carbon.”
By retaining the existing building foundation, basement and structural frame, the design has a significant saving on embodied carbon compared to a new development. The team sought to incorporate sustainable building practices and passive-led design to minimise energy usage before looking to renewable technologies as a low carbon energy solution. The design includes high efficiency thermal insulation, glazing ratios and glass specifications, creating strong air tightness to reduce the heating and cooling demands, thereby saving energy, operational costs and carbon.
The use of SMART technology was also key to this design. Including a digital twin and indoor air quality and occupancy sensors means machine learning automation can be utilised to optimise energy use and create a consistently comfortable environment for building users. These technologies provide real-time energy monitoring, efficient building access, and seamless event organisation. This not only benefits occupants by making their workspaces more convenient and user-friendly but also contributes to sustainable practices by reducing energy consumption.
The CIBSE West Midlands Awards recognise the people, products and projects that demonstrate engineering excellence in the West Midlands. Winning submissions are based on measured outputs, with low energy buildings and efficient energy performance drivers for success.
