Sutton Coldfield Delivery Office nominated for RICS Award

We are delighted to announce the nomination for a RICS West Midlands Award, in the Commercial Category for the refurbished of Sutton Coldfield Delivery Office.

This former US Forces postal depot and Grade II listed building has been renovated and extensively remodeled into Royal Mail’s new Sutton Coldfield Delivery Office. The war time structure has been enhanced and upgraded marrying modern and bold materials to the original utilitarian building fabric.

"The finished project illustrates how a dilapidated industrial building can be brought back to use." says project architect Catherine Blain. "The conversion pays respect to the heritage of the site while bringing it a new lease of life as a modern mail processing facility."

The awards will take place at Birmingham Town Hall on the 21st May.

Before: Customer Service Point

After: Customer Service Point

Before: South East Elevation Prior to Remodeling

After: Exterior View of Customer Service Point Entrance and South East Elevation

Before: Sorting Area

After: Manual Parcel Sorting Area

Improved Welfare facilities for Mail Centre staff

Working closely with Royal Mail and its key catering suppliers over the last few months, Watson Batty Architects have delivered the first redesign of the group's mail centre staff restaurant and welfare facilities.

The concept design for the facilities was undertake by Watson Batty Architects with the potential to be rolled out across the organisation. The exciting concept includes a new type of food offer and a refurbished space in which staff can enjoy there break periods. The design includes a revamped servery, quiet seating area, TV zone, Games space, booth seating and improved kitchenette facilities.

Works are complete at Tyneside Mail Centre and works are currently underway at Greenford and Southampton Mail Centres due for completion in May. 

Islington Delivery Office On Site

Proposals for Islington Delivery Office are now well underway as the has construction of the new facility commences on site. At 1,745 m.sq the building will play a key part in the royal mail distribution network and will feature the latest Royal Mail Customer and You design standards aimed at improving the facilities on offer to both staff and customers. 

The building also features a number of sustainable credentials allowing making it set to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating. Photovoltaic panels, green roofs, a living green wall and a reed bed in the canal will all contribute to making this a sustainable development.

Miller Construction have taken on the role of principle contractor with the project due for completion spring 2014. 

West Yorkshire LABC Building Excellence Success

Watson Batty Architects were pleased to receive two awards at last night’s West Yorkshire Building Excellence Awards at Headingley Stadium. Three of the practice’s projects nominations were shortlisted; Harold Wilson Court (Huddersfield), Student Central (University of Huddersfield) and STEM (University of Bradford) along with a practice entry for the Partnership Award. 

We are delighted to report that Student Central picked up the award in the Education category with the practice also taking the Partnership Award which recognises our commitment  to team work, the development of long-standing relationships and our co-operative approach to problem solving during the development process.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed towards the success at the awards. The winning entries will now be put forward for the national awards to be held in London on the 11th November 2014.

Royal Mail Projects Win Further Accolades

Sheffield Mail Centre and North West Parcelforce Hub have been individually awarded merits at the International Safety Awards. The awards come in recognition of the excellent Health and Safety Management which was implemented during the construction of the facilities. This was achieved by promoting a first class safety culture for the duration of the works which resulted in 140,000 man hours worked on site with zero lost time through accidents. Safety was a primary objective for the project team, given that the Mail Centre remained operational. 

The accolades come following success last year where Tyneside and Leeds Mail Centres won at the Association for Project Safety National awards.

Meanwhile further south of the country, Coventry Parcelforce Local Depot recently won the silver Considerate Constructors Scheme 2014 National Site Award. The award recognises the consideration the site made to the public, staff and the local environment. 

Further information on our involvement in the projects can be found on our website here. Alternatively please contact us directly if you would like any assistance or advise on related projects.

Further Success in Liverpool

We are delighted to be appointed by Liverpool City Council to support the design and delivery of their new flagship Lifestyles Gym in Millennium House. The commission for the project which is located on Victoria Street in the Liverpool City Centre comes following our recent success at Liverpool Hope University supporting the construction of the £10m Sports Health and Science Development.

The Millennium House scheme will see the creation of a state of the art fitness centre which forms part of the wider regeneration of the whole building. We will be working closely with the Council and BLOK Architects to extend the design concepts for the gym and develop a new ‘brand’ which will be rolled out across all Council sport and leisure facilities in the city.

Repeat Success in the RICS awards.

Success was had at this year’s RICS NW awards for Royal Mail’s, Chorley Parcelforce Hub which won the Commercial Project of the Year category. The scheme saw off competition from 7 other shortlisted entries to take the award to the delight of our client. The hub which began operating last year processes up to 12,000 parcels per hour and is a key component in facilitating Parcelforce’s expansion plans.

The award comes following success last year in the 2013 RICS NE awards which saw Royal Mail’s Leeds Mail Centre, also completed by Watson Batty, win the Infrastructure project of the year. We are delighted to see these schemes recognised in the awards and hope to continue this success further with our new forthcoming projects.

Royal Mail Sutton Coldfield Delivery Office

Royal Mail Sutton Coldfield Delivery Office has been redeveloped into a modern mail processing unit designed and managed on site by Watson Batty Architects. The Grade II listed building has been enhanced, extensively re-modeled and includes the newly re-branded customer service point. 

The new facilities were designed using bold colours and finishes to provide a modern, comfortable environment for both staff and visitors. Efficiency improvements to the building fabric and new building services have improved the energy performance reducing the running cost of the facility. 

Due to the strategic nature of the facility it was critical to our client that the construction work was complete on time and to budget. Both objectives were met and the project handed over as planned.

Works Commence at the Royal Mail Chelmsford Delivery Office

Following Watson Batty Architects long standing relationship with Royal Mail, works have now commenced on a new Delivery Office in Chelmsford.

Due to the restrictive site area a deck car park has been designed to provide private staff parking with parking for Royal Mail's operational fleet below.

The project will  include the 'Customer and You' initiative, a redesign and new approach to key areas of the Delivery Office which Watson Batty have played a leading role in developing.

The contractor is VolkerFitzpatrick and works are due to complete summer 2014.

Shipley Store Wars and Planning Win

Proposals for a mixed use development in Shipley, Bradford were unanimously approved at Planning Committee on Friday last week, ahead of two rival applications that all aimed to build a new supermarket in the town. Watson Batty Architects brought together two of their longstanding clients; Wm Morrison Supermarkets and Skipton Properties Ltd to develop this exciting mixed use scheme which has been named Shipley Exchange. The proposals occupy an 22 acre piece of land adjacent to Shipley Train Station and comprise of a Supermarket, a petrol filling station, business units, 100 dwellings as well as much needed additional station car parking. For further information on the proposal please click here to visit our website.

Watson Batty enhances Royal Mail’s Customer Experience

Watson Batty Architects have been working closely with Royal Mail Group over the last 6 months to help the organisation improve the experience their customers encounter when they visit there local Delivery Office.

New Customer Service Points are been constructed across the country with Watson Batty installing the first one at the recently completed Croydon Delivery Office.

The initiative also includes improved staff facilities including offices, work time learning and welfare areas.

Croydon Delivery Offices opens its doors to the public in January 2014.

Vince Cable visits WBA latest food production facility

Business Secretary Vince Cable visited the Morrisons Farmers Boy processing site in Bradford today to see the company’s investment in the future of its manufacturing operation. The visit comes following the opening of the 28,700 sq.ft extension and alteration works, designed and administered by WBA, earlier this year. The Famers Boy facility in Bradford, West Yorkshire was originally designed by Watson Batty in 1998.

For more information please click here

10 Parcelforce Local Depots completed in time for the Christmas Rush

Watson Batty Architects have completed another series of national strategy projects for the Royal Mail Group as part of our ongoing long-term appointment. 

The strategy covered the majority of the country with sites in Basingstoke, Beckton, Bodmin, Coventry, Crayford, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Newport, Norwich and Rotherham.

The project took one year from inception to completion, and all the depot’s were completed in the summer ahead of Parcelforce’s Christmas peak period.

The parcels sector of Royal Mail is the largest growing sector and these Local Depots are a welcome addition to the Parcelforce estate.

Watson Batty become a Green World Ambassador

Following our success at the Green Apple Awards held in Swindon earlier this year, where we won the Green Apple Built Environment Award for Medway Mail Centre, Watson Batty  have become a Green World Ambassador.

Paul Ryan from Watson Batty Architects together with Alan Smith-Hill and Keith Tomlinson from Royal Mail Group Property attended an Awards Ceremony  at  the House of Commons on 11th November 2013, where they were presented with an plaque in recognition of their status as a Green World Ambassador, demonstrating environmental best practice to others.

The Green Apple Awards are run by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-political environment group and supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and other independent bodies.

The award is the culmination of over 20 years of working together with Royal Mail as one of our longstanding clients.

Sheffield Mail Centre Automation Works Complete

Following several years working closely with Royal Mail a key stage has been reached on the North East Mail Centre Strategy.

The installation phase of new intelligent letter sorting machines at Sheffield Mail Centre is now complete. This was the last phase of the extension and alteration works that began in January 2012.

The completion of works at Sheffield Mail Centre is the final piece of the jigsaw on the Mail Centre section of Royal Mail’s North East Strategy. Works are still progressing on Delivery Offices at York, Teesside and Darlington.

Each of the Mail Centres required careful phasing of the work to maintain Royal Mail’s operation. Watson Batty are lead consultant on all the above projects.

Heathrow International Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony for the new Royal Mail Heathrow International Logistics Centre took place on Friday 27th September. The event was well attended by Royal Mail Management, Communication Workers Union, Unite Union, Royal Mail Group Property, International Logistics staff, the main contractor VolkerFitzpatrick and Watson Batty Architects.

The building is key to Royal Mail’s international mail operation as it is through this building that all International Mail enters and departs the country. 

The project which opened in August 2013 was designed and administered on site by Watson Batty took a year to complete from inception to completion. 

Farmers Boy ready to roll

Watson Batty Architects Ltd have successfully delivered a new extension to the key production facility at Farmers Boy in Bradford. Originally designed and built in 1998 by Watson Batty Architects, Farmers Boy is a purpose-built fresh food factory. Watson Batty Architects have worked with Wm Morrison Supermarket Plc for a number of years undertaking internal alterations and extensions to keep up with Wm Morrison Supermarket Plc’s growing demands. The new extension will house new state of the art automated pie and quiche production lines.

Working with R N Wooler to construct this complicated extension, undertaking phased works of internal alterations to create new departments as well link in the plant and machinery whilst maintaining the facilities operational capabilities.       

Green World Ambassadors

Watson Batty Architects Ltd, will be honoured as International Green World Ambassadors at a special ceremony in November at the House of Commons. This recognition comes as a result of our environmental success at the Royal Mail Medway Mail Centre in Strood which won a Green Apple Environment Award, presented at the National Self Build & Renovation Centre in Swindon recently.

As a result of that success, Watson Batty Architects were invited to have their winning paper published in The Green Book, the world’s only annual work of reference on environmental best practice that is distributed to environment professionals, universities and libraries around the world by The Green Organisation. The winning paper now goes forward for further judging and the possibility of  representing the UK in the Brussels-led European Business Awards for the Environment. The Green Apple Awards are one of the few environmental schemes in Britain that have official status to act as an automatic feeder scheme into the European campaign.

This is the practice's third success in achieving a Green Apple award following our success in receiving gold awards for our self-designed office in Leeds and for the South Midlands Mail Centre in Northampton.

Plans Approved for Ripon Mixed-use Development

Harrogate Borough Council released a decision notice this week giving planning approval for a substantial mixed-use development on the edge of Ripon. The scheme, designed by Watson Batty Architects on behalf of Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc and Rock Regeneration, will see the creation of a new 37,000sq.ft supermarket,  a 60 Bed Hotel, DIY home and garden centre, plus industrial and office units. The decision notice marks the end of a long running application with Harrogate Borough Council which commenced with pre-application discussions in early 2011. 

Royal Mail Leeds wins RICS Award

The recently completed extension to the Leeds Mail Centre in Stourton is the winner of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors ‘Pro Yorkshire’ Award in the Infrastructure category. Watson Batty and project contractor Wates Construction were presented with the Award alongside Royal Mail at the ceremony held at the end of April at the Centenary Pavilion, Elland Road.

The award recognised the joint efforts of the client, contractors and design team to deliver this challenging scheme in a busy environment whilst the operation remained live throughout the project. The common culture of zero-tolerance to Health & Safety risks resulted in over 200,000 accident free hours across the two projects over an 18 months period.

The works included a 4900m2 extension to the existing processing hall and major internal reorganisation to increase efficiency of the mail delivery services.

The scheme was also the winner of the APS  Regional Health & Safety Award last year.