Onyx – GLASGOW

Brief

In line with CEG’s strategy of improving sustainability through redevelopment and refurbishment of buildings, this city centre office was refurbished and fitted out rather than replaced to provide high specification modern office accommodation.

CHALLENGE

ONYX, previously named Eagle Building, was constructed in 1992. Whilst the basic structure and envelope were in relatively good order, the floorplates and common parts had become significantly outdated and dilapidated. The Client brief was to reposition the building as the best-refurbished office building in Glasgow and the Client’s broader UK portfolio, rivalling best-in-class new build offices. This required us to reconfigure the entrance and ground floor, construct a new feature entrance, build a high-quality café, and provide high specification cycle/shower facilities and best-in-class finishes to lift the building above the competition. We delivered these works during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEY ASPECTS

ONYX provides 53,397 sq ft of high specification office accommodation, including 5,877 sq ft of fully fitted and furnished studio accommodation.

Innes BC were appointed as Project Manager and Cost Consultant for the refurbishment and fit-out on our Client’s behalf, whilst also being retained to provide design coordination and delivery of subsequent occupier Category B fit-outs. We formed a design team with leading commercial office design experience to develop and deliver the complex phased refurbishment programme.

ESG enhancements have been introduced to the building, requiring careful design and upgrading of the base-build accommodation to significantly improved the efficiency of the building. The EPC was improved from an E to B rating, and the building is currently on a phased pathway to decarbonisation.

ONYX was recently awarded the 2022 Scottish BCO award for best refurbished/recycled workplace.

Here’s what the judges had to say about ONYX:

“A development that can be defined as a creative vision born from refurbishment and repositioning; Glasgow’s ONYX has won the award for Best Refurbished/Recycled Workplace. The success of this building has been achieved through a desirable, sustainable, and creative reimagining of the building’s arrival space and interaction with the streetscape.

With a strong new identity in removing the former-stone structure, the design team have successfully disentangled the existing configuration and artfully crafted a series of connected spaces within the heart of the building. The BCO judging panel applauded ONYX for illustrating what can be achieved by using the existing fabric of a building and revealing its hidden secrets, as well as impressively saving over 40% embodied carbon – demonstrating ONYX to be a highly sustainable and unrivalled workplace offering.

They were particularly impressed by the newly created entrance projecting out into the streetscape and making the building easily identifiable, specifically through its strong architectural presence now enhanced by a bold new entrance whilst opening the previous dark lobby area. The building is commended for setting a high standard for sustainable workplace accommodation in Glasgow City Centre.”