bco award winner hks architects

British Council for Offices Awards

Avon Cosmetics UK Headquarters

building well finished which sets a newfantastica

Mick Young Garbe (Joint Developer for Nunn Mills Road Regeneration)gold standard for

Northampton.

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Fit-Out of WorkplaceAvon Cosmetics UK Headquarters

Applicant OrganisationAvon CosmeticsCarole Stronach+44(0)1604 [email protected]

Base Build Funder - DeveloperMerchant Developments LtdGeoff Hunton+44(0)191 236 [email protected]

Tenant/OccupierAvon Cosmetics, as above

Project ManagerCushman &Wakefield LLPStuart Bodman+44(0)207 152 [email protected]

Quantity SurveyorFranklin and Andrews LtdMalcolm Weaver+44(0)207 633 [email protected]

Brief ConsultantCushman & Wakefield LLP, as above

ArchitectHKSAlan Palmer+44(0)207 292 [email protected]

Interior DesignerHKSMark Simpson+44(0)207 292 [email protected]

Mechanical/Electrical EngineerMeinhardt (UK) Ltd Alan Munson +44(0)207 831 7969 [email protected]

Structural EngineerMeinhardt (UK) LtdDavid Sharp+44(0)207 831 [email protected]

ContractorBowmer and Kirkland LtdGary Bradley+44(0)1773 [email protected]

Project:

Avon Cosmetics UK HeadquartersNunn Mills RoadNorthampton NN1 5PA

CategoryFit-Out of Workplace

RegionThe Midlands and East Anglia

Project & Team Details

When printing this HKS British Council for Offices Awards submission - please print on FSC accredited paper - thanks.

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British Council for Offices Awards Avon Cosmetics UK Headquarters

Project AimsIn 2006, Avon Cosmetics undertook to develop its new UK headquarters on the site of its former production facility in the heart of Northampton, and bring life to this prime, largely undeveloped area as a part of a regeneration of the wider area.

With the company established in the UK in 1959, Northampton is the historic home of Avon. The development is both a symbol of Avon’s civic status and as a major local employer in Northampton.

The prestigious new headquarters sits proudly by the river Nene, a well-connected location, ideal for the needs of Avon in serving its wide customer base. It is designed to reflect Avon’s status as the world’s biggest direct selling beauty company and to enhance its core brand values in attracting, retaining and motivating employees.

Avon chose to undertake the development whilst remaining fully operational. It was previously operating in several disparate buildings, including prefabricated temporary accommodation. Its requirement, following a detailed workplace strategy, was for 100,000 sq

ft of flexible office space designed to enhanced BCO and institutional standards, which was sustainable and supported flexible, innovative modern working practices.

With the many varied operations now under one roof the design has become an exemplar of flexibility, future-proofed to adapt to growth and the changing demands of the business. The workplace strategy proposed more open plan and interactive work settings and the interior is designed to meet these requirements, with open floor plates also providing flexibility for reconfiguration and reorganisation. As well as the office environments the accommodation also includes bespoke staff training facilities, a restaurant and cafe, an employee shop and a history room.

It is designed as a whole life sustainable development with key objectives being the re-use of brownfield land, the focus on local labour markets and long-term staff retention through innovative building design.

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EnterpriseThe success of Avon’s new headquarters is as much about its commitment to its people as it is towards the environment. Detailed engagement sessions with each of the business units during the brief development stage has resulted in a building tailored to an improved working culture. This is visible in the varied work settings, improved amenities and better access to daylight and views. In stark contrast to the former administrative building there is now substantial provision of showers and cycle facilities and the car parking provision has come down by more than 40%.

Bringing together the disparate activities of several regional buildings has made a significant contribution to the efficient operation of the business. This has the added benefit of better integrating working practice. The transition to open plan working has led to more effective space utilisation, improved communication and a greater interaction

between employees and departments. This is a successful outcome of the core brief requirement for improved teaming, collaborative and social areas and brings with it an increase in employee satisfaction.

One notable feature of the new building, borne out of Avon’s employee engagement sessions, is that of its relationship with the adjoining River Nene. By raising the ground floor 1.5m above grade, this not only addresses the issue of flooding (the site is located in a flood plain), but also positions the restaurant, cafe and training areas with direct access and excellent views over the river to the picturesque Beckett’s Park. This substantially improves the amenity and its effectiveness for the employees compared with the former administrative building in which all amenity space lacked access to views and external spaces.

The rationalisation of the real estate into a

central building also contributes to a reduction in Avon’s carbon footprint through long term reduction in energy consumption and lower impact maintenance regimes. Its new headquarters is the first property within its corporate real estate portfolio to secure a sustainable accreditation. As a result, its design is being used as a benchmark for other refurbishment and new build projects across its global property portfolio.

An innovative aspect of the development process was the establishment of concurrent design, procurement and construction phases. The briefs for the base building and the fit-out were developed in tandem to enable a shorter overall development programme and to align the base-build with Avon’s bespoke requirements and business practices. This streamlined costs for the overall development, but more importantly reduced site wastage normally associated with having two separate contracts.

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Utility of the ProductThe brief called for a building in which Avon could manage and maintain its operations in an efficient, safe and secure way, whilst promoting an improved working culture.

Every part of the building is fully accessible. The central atrium provides clear and legible wayfinding and ease of orientation at each floor level. The central shared core spaces have tea point, meeting, print and toilet facilities making movement and circulation efficient and ensuring secure management of the building from a single control point.

The column-free open plan floors promote communication and interaction and are designed around Avon’s new business model incorporating multiple work settings, collaborative teaming areas and break out spaces.

Avon is committed to attracting, retaining and developing skilled employees and it placed the health and wellbeing of employees at the heart of the design process. It carried out visioning and engagement sessions with its employees

and this has led to a more productive and motivated workforce and has allowed Avon to broaden its regional status as a major employer. For instance, access to daylight is now considered of paramount importance in the modern workplace and generally no employee sits more than 7m from a window. Open plan areas are spacious and planned to maximise views across the park and the surroundings. The central tea point and break out areas in each wing provide informal meeting and social space and encourage ad hoc interaction.

The building sets a new standard both for Avon and for Northampton, tailored to their needs yet constructed to enhanced British Council for Offices standards as a fully equipped Grade-A facility for flexible leasing on the open market. The column-free floorplates and central shared cores allow for flexibility in space-planning, and future-proof the facility should it return to the open market for single or multiple commercial occupancy.

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Value, Cost & ProgrammeAvon has committed its future to Northampton in support of the local economy and of local employment generation. It promotes the local planning initiative to re-invigorate the town centre through increased amenity and the re-use of its brownfield land.

Their headquarters now also provides a significantly improved working environment. Through its enhanced and additional amenities, its employees have access to exhibition spaces, an Avon history room, an Avon shop, multiple break-out spaces with full wireless connectivity and a varied food

and beverage outlet. This new environment is safe, secure and fully accessible and better integrates with its riverside setting with pedestrian friendly terraces and access to what will be in time a new “gateway” piazza from which the building is entered.Avon has carefully tailored their new workplace to suit its specific operational requirements centred on improved efficiencies. Departmental groups are collocated for greater integration, leadership is more visible, even the open shared spaces such as the central staircase provide for informal encounters and display individual and team successes to engender pride amongst employees. The new environment

supports this spirit of community through its many connected, open spaces and activity areas that exist on each floor. Avon also implemented a comprehensive environmental graphics and wayfinding strategy which connects each of the floors and provides brand continuity, placing an emphasis on the role of the Avon Representatives. There is additionally a new momentum for reducing environmental impact both through investment in the building and operationally now and in the future. This initiative includes the development of a comprehensive green travel plan and building specific features such as rainwater harvesting

and multi-occupancy flexibility through zonal sub-metering.

Project Programme Milestones• Fit-out, Category B inception: November 2006• Tender: February 2007• Start on Site: March 2009• Practical Completion: July 2009• Furniture Installation: August 2009• Occupation: August 2009

Net/Gross AreasGross Internal Area: 10219 sqmNet internal Area: 8386 sqm

Cost information

LGround Ground First Second Third Fourth Roof TotalGross internal area/sqm

230 2097 1936 1936 1936 1936 148 10219

Net internal area/ sqm

0 1534 1713 1713 1713 1713 0 8386

Cost/sqftFit-out, Category B £49/sqft

Base date March 2008

Operating costs..... TBD

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The AccommodationAvon’s technical brief requirements called for a workplace that promoted health and wellbeing, was flexible, well-lit and easy to re-configure for future workplace needs.

Five storeys of accommodation are arranged in two wings around a central atrium, with the offset between each wing allowing daylight into the heart of the building. Use is made of the atrium to create a strong and direct frontage onto what will be, in time, the new “gateway piazza”. Key amenities and customer facilities such as dining, cafe, conference and training suites are located at ground floor level. This makes the most of the inside and outside spaces but also integrates and populates the atrium. This is further enhanced and enlivened with exhibition and break out space, the history room and the shop.

Upper levels are socially and physically connected through the central shared cores comprising tea points and a bank of meeting rooms rising through the building. This allows the principal workplace environments to gain maximum benefit

from light and views. The configuration and disposition of the cores also means that the building can be easily sub-tenanted in the future allowing floor by floor occupancy with defined reception spaces.

HKS led the project team through the development of a Building Information Modelling solution utilising Revit software. This enabled them to align Avon’s various brief requirements in an integrated manner with the minimum of wastage in production time. A product of this was the disposition of large volume spaces that benefitted from the 15m wide column-free floor plates. These spaces include the multiple dining facilities, the training and conferencing suites and the photo studios which can be configured in a variety of ways to respond to the growing customer interface and diverse events that now take place in the building. Sliding folding partitions with good acoustic treatment and multiple storage areas facilitate these operations.

SpecificationWorkplace density 10 sqm

Means of escape density 6 sqm

Plan efficiency 82%

Plan depthceiling height

15m2.7m

GridsColumnplanning

15m1.5m

Toilets One person per 14 sqm

Lifts 3 passenger lifts1 goods lift

Raised floors 150mm

Structural loading Live generalLive high

2.5kn/sqm7.5kn/sqm

Dead partitions Dead raised floors

1kn/sqm0.85kn/sqm

Small powerLoading diversifiedRisers/busbars

15 w/sqm25 w/sqm

Lighting standardOfficeTask uniformity

400 lux0.7

Comfort SummerWinterFresh airNoise open planNoise cellular

22degC +/- 2degC20degC +/- 2degC12 l/s/personNR38NR35

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1. Entrance

2. Reception

3. Exhibition

4. Dining & Cafe

5. Training and Conference Suites

6. History Room

7. Studio Space

8. Post and Collation

Ground Floor Plan

1.

8. 7.

2.

4.

3.

6.

5.

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N

1. Teapoints and printing

2. Open Plan Working

3. Toilets

4. Meeting Suites

5. Break-out and Social Areas

Upper Floor Plan

1.2.

3.

4.

5.

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East West Section

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4

3

2

1

G

North South Section

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SustainabilityEvery aspect of the development has been considered in the context of sustainable regeneration and long-term local employment. This is exemplified by Avon’s decision to not only redevelop brownfield land but also to engage with the local development agency in seeking to develop its local labour force and to enhance its physical environment. The new link road will be served by additional public transport nodes and the completed river Nene towpath will eventually mean that the building will positively connect with the pedestrian and cycle links in and around the town centre.

Intrinsically the most significant contribution to reducing the environmental impact is the rationalisation of the estate into one efficient building focussed on long term employee retention. The building is equipped with facilities that enable and promote this. Individual choice is catered for with a variety of work settings and all UK employees can now be trained under one roof in the suite of training and conferencing rooms at ground floor level. These can additionally be opened up into the dining areas for private and customer functions and for business-wide presentations that include the wider Avon community. Throughout the building there is a variety of settings catering for the many different ways in which employees interact from informal and ad hoc meeting through to cafe style and formal dining.

The use of public transport is encouraged and a comprehensive green travel plan is now fully operational. This promotes car sharing, walking and cycling. On site car parking capacity has reduced by 40% and cycle and shower provision has increased by 100% and 100% respectively. Other sustainable features include recycling and waste management facilities, alternative printing

arrangements and a tele-presence suite with virtual conferencing facilities to reduce the business-wide demand for global air travel.

All employees have good access to daylight and no workplace is more than 7m from a window. The workplace density varies between floors with an efficient 1:8 average ratio, and there is a great degree of comfort afforded through the varied settings. Flexible working is encouraged with working from home, active desk and office sharing

Where possible materials have a high recycled and recyclable content and are low emission. Carpets, entrance mats, worktops and workstations have a high recycled content and EcoPaint is used for all direct decoration. Internally, heating and lighting is zoned with separate controls, sensors and sub-metering to monitor high users of energy. Low energy bulbs are used throughout as well as lighting controlled by proximity sensors. There is rainwater harvesting, solar thermal heating for hot water, low flush cisterns and sensor taps.

DataBREEAM accreditation Very good

EPC certification

C score is 58Benchmark is 61

Car parking ratio 1: 1.6

Sustainable Awards

CPRE commendationGreen Apple Award

Campaigning for the countryside

for the benefit of us all

We request the pleasure of your company at our

ANNUAL BALL

to be held on

Saturday, 26 June 2010 – commencing at 7.00 pm at

Whittlebury Hall Hotel & Spa, Whittlebury, Near Towcester NN12 8QH

Champagne reception, 3-course dinner, live music and disco, auction and raffle

Carriages at 12.30 pm Black tie

R.S.V.P. by 12 June 2010

Contact: [email protected]

Or 01858 431088

RSVP By 12 June 2010

Contact Sue Baylis – 01858 431088

Accommodation is available at Whittlebury Hall

01327 857857

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QualityBuild Quality

The project team developed clear guidelines for the core technical and quality standards defined by the brief. Contractors proposals were benchmarked against these standards and developed in line with agreed quality procedures. These range from control samples for partitioning and finishes packages to the prototyping of desking and furniture systems. Avon engaged all employees in a review of the prototypes out of which a scoring matrix was completed for final assessment and selection. Both the project and contractor teams appointed design managers

to jointly develop the controls and coordinate the design. The employment of BIM modelling software was beneficial in this regard.

Durability

All materials, finishes and systems were carefully selected by Avon for their appropriateness, durability and environmental impact. These include robust wall boards, linoleum flooring, and glazed partitioning systems with integral blinds that avoid damage. Products were selected from established suppliers for ease of replacement and for long term compatibility with the base specification.

Maintenance and Management

Maintenance standards were established as one of the key drivers for the rationalisation of the estate into a single building. Avon’s facilities manager played a key role in the development of these standards giving guidance on operational requirements and the application of proven global management standards. The operational building manuals use the interactive BIM software to assist in the long term maintenance of the products and systems.

Measures taken to optimise cost in use

The design incorporates a number of effective long term low maintenance solutions. These range from maximising the use of daylight and lighting controlled by proximity sensors to the specification of materials and finishes that are low impact with long life spans and low maintenance. The simple configuration of the building also minimises the number of control points enabling long term secure management in a cost effective way.

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ContextLocal Context

The new workplace is well populated, lively and active. As a prominent and significant occupancy it not only raises awareness of this under developed part of town but it also animates the river front through the diverse activities it now supports. With a new harbour setting taking shape across the river, Avon’s new workplace will provide a busy backdrop very much in the spirit of regeneration.

Arrival experience for occupiers and visitors

The building is fully accessible and all employees and visitors have clear points of entry either by foot, cycle or car. The main entrance is distinct and legible as are the other entry points at ground and lower ground level. As the ground floor level is raised up Avon has put this to good use, providing visitors at the main entrance with clear visual and brand continuity in the volume of the atrium.

By illuminating this space Avon has also established a strong sense of identity with what will be the new public “gateway” piazza for the developed masterplan, with connections along Nunn Mills Road and across the Park to the east.

Internal spaces

The atrium is the heart of the building. It has the essence of an active street with comfortable meet and greet areas, strong brand graphics, exhibition and gallery space. It is illuminated by day and night and colour has been used selectively to distinguish and drawn attention to special areas such as the history room. Acoustics are also carefully controlled in the touch-down space at the rear of the atrium through the use of branded wall panelling. For continuity, the graphic branding is also carried through to the amenity and workplace environments on the upper floors. These are embellished with perforated acoustic screens which help to articulate between the different work settings and also condition the acoustics for the different activities.

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Avon History Room

Product Collation and Distribution

Employee RestaurantConference and Presentation Suites

Effectiveness as a Workplace

Building Entrance

The new workplace provides a variety of work settings to support the growing diversity in work patterns. Through the promotion of collaborative working and the move towards predominantly open plan spaces departmental groups now have greater opportunity to engage in team-based and integrated activity.

An emphasis is placed on the health and wellbeing of employees and the varied work settings are designed to encourage movement within and between floors. On each floor there are multiple meeting points which vary in size and in format. The workplace density varies between floors with an efficient 1:8 average ratio and flexible working is encouraged with working from home, hot desking and office sharing on the increase.

Avon’s Green Travel Plan further promotes the healthy working regime. Cyclists now have ample storage and shower facilities, food and beverages are offered in a variety of ways and for longer hours. A wireless network is provided throughout the building and supports the use of the cafe and cafe bar areas for

one to one meetings, individual focussed work or informal discussion. Other amenities include interview rooms, a sick room, and Avon shop. The Avon history room displays the evolution of the Avon brand and new product developments are regularly promoted and curated alongside the exhibition space.

Avon has invested in this building for the long term and its brand strength is evident throughout. The atrium features large scale graphics that can be regularly updated to respond to new brand initiatives and campaigns. Colour has been effectively used throughout giving brand expression to specific areas but also through clear wayfinding design.

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Lifting the SpiritsThe new headquarters is a rare entity in that it is not only a building of the highest of standards, it is also a manifestation of Avon’s commitment to its community and a measure of what might be once the wider development masterplan comes forward.

The change in the working environment compared with what Avon once had has been profound. It is the first time in the history of this site that Avon can demonstrably say that there is a positive connection between its environment and its users. The focus of this project has been about its people and how they can shape what their future should be. It makes a tangible connection with the home and the work life balance that is increasingly a factor in a modern working culture. It is inviting and welcoming. It is both colourful and calm. It can be noisy but also quiet. It can be social, intimate and supportive. It is light and airy, it is accessible and it is easy to understand and to orientate around.

Ultimately, it has become a centre of excellence within the Avon community in the pursuit of attracting, retaining and developing employees.

Our new building creates an environment which has instilled a new sense of pride in our employees. You can sense the energy and buzz that is created by having an open plan office helping to build relationships and engagement. We are very proud of our new building which enables our UK and European business colleagues to work together under the same roof for the first time.Carole Stronach Avon Cosmetics

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British Council for Offices Awards

Avon Cosmetics UK Headquarters

bco award winner hks architects

Documents

new uk headquarters

needs of avon

historic home of avon

heart of northampton

hks british council

offices awards submission

avons status

detailed workplace strategy