Held at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House, London, the BCO’s annual awards celebrated designs that demonstrate and drive best practice in office design, fit-out, operation, community engagement and sustainability.

Recognised across the industry, the BCO National Awards programme sets the standard for best-in-class office buildings in the UK. The awards dinner, with guest speaker Clare Balding, attracted over 1,200 key players from the industry.

This year’s event also saw the launch of a new category, the Customer Experience Award, which will form part of the BCO National Awards from 2025 onwards. The award will celebrate office buildings, business parks and campuses where an outstanding experience is provided to occupiers, their employees, visitors and the wider community.

Winning the award for Commercial Workplace, 1 New Park Square, Edinburgh, played a crucial role in the regeneration of the business park typology in which it sits. Visitors are welcomed with a colonnaded entrance and an expansive reception area, featuring striking art in the form of a hanging tapestry weaved by a local art organisation.

The judges were particularly taken by the pioneering mixed-mode ventilation and wider sustainable approach to materials. The project incorporates a new bakery and bar in addition to sports facilities such as a padel court and multi-use games area to create a vibrant and active environment for occupier wellbeing. By enhancing the public realm offer, the design leverages the new infrastructure and connections into Edinburgh and the wider region.

This year Projects up to 2,500m² was awarded to Statkraft, The Garment Factory in Glasgow, which involved the sensitive restoration of a category B listed heritage building, maintaining the character and original features of the existing building while meeting modern occupier needs. The renewal saw the creation of an open-plan office space with a creative, social and warm working environment, and visitors are met with a colourful wall made from rolls of materials in the reception area.

The project team engaged with the future occupiers when making key design decisions, crafting a user-friendly and unique space that embodies the company’s heritage. Drawing on local, recycled and recyclable materials, the design was praised by judges for being both sustainable and socially conscious.

The winners of the BCO National Awards 2024 are:

• Best of the Best – TTP Campus, Cambridgeshire
• Corporate Workplace – TTP Campus, Cambridgeshire (Highly commended – Grainhouse, London)
• Commercial Workplace – 1 New Park Square, Edinburgh  (Highly commended - 8 Bishopsgate, London/Highly commended - EQ, Bristol)
• Fit Out of Workplace – Osborne Clarke by Interaction, Bristol (Highly commended - BP London)
• Projects up to 2,500m² – Statkraft, The Garment Factory, Glasgow
• Refurbished/Recycled Workplace – Tower Hamlets Town Hall, London
• Innovation – The Forge, London
• ESG – One Strawberry Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Test of Time – Deloitte HQ – 1 New Street Square, London

Peter Crowther, president of the BCO and partner at HERE, said: “The winners of this year’s BCO Awards highlight the need for offices to not only provide the most efficient and productive working environments but to also contribute to their surrounding cities and communities. As the demand for cutting edge lab spaces continues to rise, it is fitting that TTP Campus received two awards by raising the bar and driving the sector forward with its innovative and unique approach to design, collaboration and creativity. Congratulations to all the winners which each demonstrate a remarkable commitment which goes beyond expectation.”

Richard Kauntze, chief executive of the BCO, commented: “The aim of the BCO National Awards is to celebrate the achievements and progress within the industry by awarding the best-in-class and most forwarded thinking office designs. It was a joy to see that this year all the winners showed a unique approach to broadening the positive impact offices can achieve beyond their immediate occupiers. From incorporating local artwork to using advanced monitoring tools and modern methods of construction to drive ESG, this year’s winners set a new standard which I hope will guide the wider industry forwards.”

Mike Burton, chair of the BCO’s National Judging Panel and Director at AECOM, added: “It was a pleasure to contribute to the selection and decisions in the BCO National Awards once again this year. All entries were of an especially high calibre and it has been truly inspiring to observe and evaluate such an array of commercial excellence. Congratulations to all the well-deserving winners.”

Gold sponsors of this year’s BCO Awards are AECOM and Troup Bywaters + Anders, and Silver sponsor is Quantem. The BCO Awards are in association with EG.