Size
5,000 sq ft
Location
Solihull
Activity
Professional Services
Duration
12 weeks
We’ve delivered the new green office of Energy & Utility Skills in Solihull.
Our SKA gold certified fit out has enabled the skills company to relocate from temporary accommodation to a modern, flexible space, spanning 5,000 sq ft.
With a combination of open plan office, breakout and collaboration areas, it will support the company’s continued growth and facilitate hybrid working for up to 70 employees.
Energy & Utility Skills brings industry leaders together to identify and address sector-wide skills challenges.
The firm provides assurance and skills solutions to help employers attract, develop and retain a sustainable, skilled workforce. Its UK-wide membership comprises major infrastructure companies within water, power, gas and waste management and their top tiers of delivery partners.
Overview
Energy & Utility Skills is an established business that was operating out of temporary accommodation in Solihull’s Blythe Valley Business Park.
It identified nearby Avon House as an ideal location to call ‘home’ and signed a 10-year lease on a first floor office space, which benefits from excellent local transport links.
Following a competitive tender, the firm chose to partner with Office Principles North to help realise its vision for a modern, sustainable workplace.
Our challenge was to create an office with a strong brand identity, capable of facilitating hybrid working and delivering excitement among Energy & Utility Skills’ employees. Operating within the energy sector, it was imperative that the new workplace design met the company’s vision of delivering ‘skills for a greener world’.
Project completion
We have delivered a CAT B office space that confounds expectations.
Its design is the result of a close working relationship with Energy & Utility Skills, to create a workplace that truly met its needs and expectations. That process included a collaborative review of the original brief that really challenged requirements, maximised budgets and made best use of available space.
We think it was time well spent and so does our client. The result is an impressive new home, one that is light, airy and delivers a sense of fluidity that encourages movement throughout the space.
It includes a new reception space, meeting rooms and ample breakout and collaboration spaces, with energy efficient feature lighting and wall branding. There is also a range of different seating solutions, from agile desks to breakout furniture, that promote employee wellbeing.
The office showcases several environmentally friendly features such as biophilia, planting and a moss wall, which all contributed to a sustainable fit-out.
We also supported EU Skills in becoming one of only a handful of UK companies to have achieved SKA gold certification, with the following elements critical to the project’s success:
The role of the office continues to evolve from solely being a place where work is carried out, to a destination that promotes collaboration and brings people together. Energy & Utility Skills is one of many employers that have chosen to redesign office space to support hybrid working and is committed to providing an inspiring and inclusive workplace for its employees and clients. We have delivered a flexible space where people have the freedom to move around and work in different ways, giving them a great experience. As a business that operates in the energy and utilities sector, the environment is hugely important to Energy & Utility Skills so we used the Ska rating method to ensure that the project followed sustainability good practice criteria.