Waterfront Point hailed top workplace at BCO Property Awards

Waterfront Point, the HQ of Halton Housing has been recognised as one of the best workplaces in the north of England at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) regional property sector awards.

On Thursday 3^rd May, Halton Housing won the Corporate Workplace Award at the British Council of Offices’ UK Awards. The award recognises Waterfront Point, the HQ for Halton Housing employees as a ‘vibrant’ workplace and has been recognised for its strong emphasis on the health and wellbeing of employees, and collaborative working.

Waterfront Point has a number of unique features which have caused it to be recognised by the British Council of Offices’ Awards judges, including: walking treadmills, exercise bikes, large bike sheds to encourage cycling to work, xbox, table tennis and pool table. The building has bright open spaces with a lot of natural light flowing in to the building from the large windows and atrium roof. There are many large spaces throughout the building which can be used for collaborative working, training sessions, informal and formal meetings, making the building incredibly versatile.

Judges were impressed with how the development seamlessly mixes office and field-based staff, providing a variety of workplaces in a vibrant environment.

Phil Doyle, director at 5 Plus Architects and BCO northern committee chairman said:

“A number of workplaces shortlisted this year have proven themselves to be of real value to local firms.”

“These offices have helped bring together disparate workforces in new, often relocated headquarters, strengthening the corporate identity of their occupiers. It has also been a pleasure to see the ambition of projects across the region, innovating to transform out of date buildings into offices fit for modern working.”

Ian Aldous, director at Arcadis and chairman of BCO Northern Judging Panel, said:

“Across the board, our shortlisted workplaces demonstrate a forward-thinking approach to office design that has placed occupier benefit at the heart of the process.”

“These projects have delivered multifunctional spaces and flexible floorplates to ensure occupiers can continue to grow and evolve their working styles with minimal physical disruption.”

“We were also pleased to see an emphasis on wellbeing, which manifested itself in many of our projects through elements from biophilic design to increased cycle storage and shower facilities.”

Nick Atkin, Halton Housing’s Group Chief Executive said:

“Our aim has consistently been to be a leading employer, so we can recruit but also retain the very best talent. This then enables us to deliver fantastic services for our customers. Waterfront Point is the culmination of our drive to fundamentally rethink how we work, and how this fits with our customer service offer.”

“The workplace should be somewhere people come for a purpose – to collaborate on a particular aspect of work or a project. We are incredibly proud that our workspace has been recognised as something special by this award and I’m grateful to everyone involved whose hard work has turned this vision into a reality.”

Waterfront Point

If you would like to see Halton Housing’s new office for yourself, take the virtual tour!

If you would also like to find out more about the build process of this new, innovative build