April 2010
The West Lothian Civic Centre has won the coveted Best Corporate work place award at the British Council for Offices (BCO) Scotland awards. The centre has been designed as a multi-user facility combining the operations of various local authority units including West Lothian Council, Lothian and Borders Police and Scottish Courts Services. The project was delivered by a multi-disciplinary design team which included Halcrow Yolles as civil and structural engineers and planning supervisor.
The winners of the Scottish Regional Awards were announced on Wednesday 21 April 2010, at a prestigious ceremony held at The George Hotel in Edinburgh. The sell-out award ceremony saw 200 of Scotland's leading architects and designers rubbing shoulders with Scottish occupiers, and other property professionals.
The winning buildings have been hailed as being pioneering examples of combining innovation of design with restoration of disused spaces, or in the case of the West Lothian Civic Centre, completely reimaging the operation of civic services.
John Shepherd, BCO judging chair for Scotland, said: "The focus of the awards is to judge buildings from a multi-dimensional point of view, combining elements such as design and architectural construction with the end result for users of the space. We had a very high standard of entries from Scotland across both the public and private sectors that have really delivered fantastic workspaces for the end user and I'd like to congratulate our winners."
He went on to describe the West Lothian Civic Centre as “a prototype for the future of public sector offices.”
Halcrow Yolles was appointed as civil and structural engineering consultant and planning supervisor for the prestigious West Lothian Civic Centre in 2005. The £45 million development on 11.25 hectares of undulating parkland is located between the B7015 Howden South Road and the River Almond.
The Civic Centre is divided into three specific areas; the three-storey office area formed in braced steel frame, the two-storey police and courts area and the traditional build single storey custody suite, each with their own specific design requirements. The combination of the public services under one roof is projected to yield significant savings in manpower and overhead costs by enabling departments to function in close proximity to each other and share several facilities.
All sections coordinate around the main Civic Area which includes a circular Civic Chamber supported on a pre-stressed concrete cantilever podium. The Civic Centre was opened formally on 25 November 2009 by Rt Hon Alex Salmond MP, MSP and is fully operational.
All eyes are now on October when the winners from the Regional Awards will go on to compete at a national level, and bid to win the 'Best of the Best' award.