Shire Hall Council Offices

Gloucestershire County Council sought to transform, both internally and externally, the tired and inefficient 1960’s building into a state-of-the-art office facility and architectural landmark to enhance the regeneration of the historic city.

The challenge being to provide facilities fit for the future, whilst the overriding refurbishment objective, was to reduce maintenance and running costs. Not an easy task for a site with a historic collection of buildings on multiple levels with poor accessibility. The building also had to remain operational throughout the works. Located in a busy city centre location with a public highway running below part of the site, the refurbishment programme would need to be multi-phased.

Quattro designed a highly sustainable workplace, one that has been responsibly and dynamically transformed over 120 weeks and 85 phases. Sustainability ingenuities have been introduced, such as, the use of Thinfilm Technology and Building Integrated Photo Voltaics, BIPVS (new to the UK) in the external cladding system. The BIPVS generate the buildings own electricity, and this, along with the improved thermal envelope, high levels of insulation and a natural ventilation strategy consisting of integrated vents into the building fabric, mean the development is self-sufficient, producing 1/3 of its annual energy requirements.

Quattro Design Architects fully understood the client brief and, by working collaboratively with the client, contractor, building control and key stakeholders, have produced fantastic results and an exemplar building contributing to achieving the client’s strategic sustainability goals by 2030.

Shire Hall is no longer an eye sore but instead a prestigious landmark in the city of Gloucester. It has attracted new tenants inspired by this transformation and the inclusive, welcoming environment, enabling Gloucestershire County Council to better engage with the public and improve service delivery within the local area. Shire Hall is now a  building that Gloucester is proud to showcase.