Work is underway on the refurbishment and total fit-out of Royalty House, the old Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust building on King Street, Watford. The project is one of a series of improvements planned as part of a bid to regenerate the town centre and is being carried out by Saracen Interiors, the South East’s leading office interiors specialist, for its client, commercial property investment expert, Aspect Property Group.
The project, valued at approximately £2.1 million, involves a complete refurbishment of the existing building across four floors, the renovation of the underground car park, and the building of an extension to the ground floor of the building. Work includes a complete mechanical and electrical installation package that will reduce the building’s energy bills by up to 50 per cent.
The top floors are expected to be offices however the ground floor has the potential to be used as a retail outlet or a restaurant so details of the fit out won’t be finalised until there is an agreement in place with a suitable tenant.
Work is likely to be completed by March 2013 when the building will present King Street with a landmark address and play its part in the regeneration of Watford town centre. Joint managing director of Saracen Interiors, Michael Page comments: “It’s extremely rewarding to take a project from the early stages of planning through development as we have with Royalty House and it’s also good to be involved in work that will complement and uplift the surrounding area.
“There are many intricacies involved and careful planning is needed as operations are taking place in the middle of a busy town centre. This is presenting the team with challenges to negotiate and is calling into practice each individual’s training and expertise but the team is thriving on these challenges and is completing each task to deadline.”
Daniel Berko, head of property for Aspect Property Group, adds: “Saracen has shown complete commitment and dedication to this project from the start. We were highly impressed by the designs that were presented to us in the first instance. Since then, the relationship has been firmly cemented by hard work and an ability to think quickly and problem solve by the team on the ground. They’ve been incredibly professional and sensitive to the environment that they are working in and we are confident that we have the best partner on board to see this project through.”
Saracen has grown steadily since its inception over 20 years ago. It’s made an impact in the regional fit out arena, securing a reputation for design expertise, in recent years, as well as an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of the commercial property market.
The company’s growth has not been limited to the commercial sector having recently enjoyed success with a raft of retail projects and public sector contracts including schools, medical centres and prison facilities. Clients include CH2M Hill, Countrywide PLC, Knight Frank, Mitie Engineering, Pizza Hut, Redrow, Soccer World, Thames Water, Toshiba, Trident Trust, Viatel, BAE Systems, Sue Ryder Care, Sandhurst School, North Surrey Primary Care Trust, Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospital NHS Trust.
