"We pushed the specification far higher than we needed to," explains Hogg, Co-founder and chairman of the company. “The buildings marked a significant expansion of our existing headquarters on the site, and were part of a vision to create a campus which would enable us to relocate our steadily growing workforce from other sites.
“With The Codeworks development in particular, we wanted it to be more than just another office building. It was intended to demonstrate our long term vision for the company and provide an inspirational working environment for the creative people working here, who are so key to our success.”
The result is a stunning 30,000ft² building on CDL’s riverside campus in Stockport, Greater Manchester that is A-rated for energy efficiency and has an admirable aesthetic, inside and out.
Liverpool-based Edge Architects worked closely with Hogg to weave sustainability into the fabric of the entire building, including a facade and entrance hall finish from Aliva UK.
The building’s location presented environmental and architectural challenges, not least of which was its close proximity to the Pyramid, a local landmark building that dominates the skyline, and the busy M60 motorway encircling Manchester.
After a number of site visits to inspect similar installations and take feedback from users, the architect/client team reviewed all of the servicing options, comparing capital, operations and maintenance costs against levels of comfort and control. This included consideration of the external envelope – including appearance, cost and long term maintenance, which in turn had an implication on the cost and appearance of the building over time.
Inspirational environment
It became clear that effective orientation of the building with a modern fan-coil based system, exposed concrete soffits and very high performance glazing would give sustainability, longevity and an inspirational working environment.
An array of photovoltaics screening roof plant areas and a solar thermal system were the most effective renewables solution – providing around 10% of electricity and about 30% of hot water for the building.
The Cool-Lite Extreme glazing is particularly efficient, reducing solar gain by 77% and cutting the annual amount of energy needed to keep the building cool by around 20%.
Inside, a simple span ‘cellform’ beam structure provides column-free space with holes in beams to route services. A central spine ceiling-raft screened primary service runs and defined circulation routes. Secondary rafts within each structural bay provide acoustic absorption over workspaces, while maintaining an element of exposed soffit at the perimeter.
Exposed concrete ceilings were chosen to retain heat in cool weather and help keep everyone cool in warmer weather.
The column-free space provided maximum flexibility for the CDL workforce, with structural beam sizes to accommodate their preferred furniture layouts. The lighting is efficient, with motion-activated ambient light level control reducing the amount of energy required to keep the building well lit.
High quality finish, inside and out
The buildings surrounding The Codeworks are typical of an out-of-town business park, with brick and rainscreen elevations, punched windows and areas of curtain walling beneath standing seam metal roofs. Adopting some of the existing palette of materials, including those used in the adjacent car dealership, helped to bring a degree of consistency to the overall development.
Stockport has a strong heritage of masonry buildings and structures. Typically, this has been the traditional ‘Manchester Red’ brick for the many industrial buildings including mills and the town’s railway viaduct – the largest brick structure in Western Europe. However, a more contemporary monochrome scheme was chosen to separate The Codeworks from the adjacent buildings.
Aliva UK, an expert in interior and exterior finishes, provided 500m² of black Grescovering terracotta rainscreen cladding around an imposing three storey glass atrium. This, along with white Wienerberger bricks, created a crisp, high-tech facade. The cladding frames the atrium to create a striking main entrance to The Codeworks, as well as the black photovoltaic panels that screen the roof.
Inside, Aliva executed an entrance hall that incorporated more than 200m2 of grey Jura limestone with tight 5mm joints and monolithic corners to give a traditional stone-built look. The limestone envelopes the feature lift shafts with vertical glazed slots.
Traditional stone, clay and brick
Aliva UK’s Sales Director Justin Price said: “Tom worked with the architects on a host of creative ideas for the use of traditional stone, clay and brick on this beautiful building. Aliva took their vision and our expert design team translated it into a stand-out finish, incorporating high quality natural materials that give a very modern and unusual feel. Terracotta is a tough, traditional material with a lifespan of 50-plus years. This, along with the highly durable limestone for the interior, ensures that the finish on the building will look good for many years to come.”
Considerable traffic noise from the motorway affects the northern elevation of the building in particular. Aligning it parallel to the motorway created an acoustic buffer and protected the environment of the amenity space to the south of the site. The northern elevation is more solid with fewer punched window openings. This allowed the south elevation to be substantially glazed.
The ‘solid’ massing of the building held it all together by forming a protective acoustic screen to the north elevation whilst acting as a visual contrast to the full height glazed entrance atrium space. This solid massing wrapped around the building to frame the south facade overlooking the client’s amenity space and exploited views to the tree-lined River Mersey.
Gareth Abbott, Principal of Edge Architects said: “This was a unique project for us in its approach to give the CDL workforce superior office space at an affordable cost. This was achieved by CDL acting as its own main contractor. The building has been considerately designed to maximise the south-facing aspect landscape, which includes the River Mersey, and minimise the noise levels from M60 to the north. The architects and all the other consultants really took this project and its aims to their hearts, and take great pride in what it has achieved.”
Tom Hogg said: “The quality of the materials and technical work on the facade from Aliva UK were excellent, and the combination of stone and glass projects a modern and elegant feel. The new building looks stunning internally and externally, and its striking aesthetic contributes to the fabulous working environment we wanted The Codeworks to deliver.”
