The Birmingham office of leading business and financial advisor Grant Thornton UK LLP has completed the fit-out of its new flagship city centre offices at Colmore Plaza.
Building owner, alternative fund management company The Carlyle Group secured the letting to Grant Thornton for 26,500 sq ft on a 15-year lease, comprising the entire 22,254 sq ft twelfth floor and approximately 4,000 sq ft on the eleventh.
The recently-completed fit-out – which took only 12 weeks – has been widely recognised by staff and visitors as an outstanding use of the building’s column-free space, with the original rectangular floorplate almost unrecognisable thanks to the ingenious design of the office and placement of meeting rooms and breakout areas.
The eleventh floor is occupied by Grant Thornton’s reception and a number of interconnected meeting rooms, all of which offer outstanding views across Birmingham, while the twelfth has been given over to offices and workspaces, interspersed with angled break-out areas and desks arranged in zigzagging rows.
David Munton, Regional Managing Partner, Grant Thornton UK LLP, said: “Our previous offices were split across four floors so this is the first time that we’ve been able to bring everyone together in one space. The brief for our designers was to produce something truly ingenious that used the space to best effect but without giving it that ‘battery hen’ feel of rows of desks all lined up and facing the same way.
“Colmore Plaza offered us an unusually blank canvas on which to make our mark and we wanted to do as much as we could. The floorplate is massively flexible and the real cherry on top is the outstanding view out of each side of the office, and particularly along Colmore Row. There are a lot of professional services companies moving towards this end of Colmore Row which is creating a great sense of community and really boosting the location.”
Colmore Plaza is one of the highest specification office buildings outside London and one of the only buildings in Birmingham to hold a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for its highly efficient design. Grant Thornton has joined other tenants at Colmore Plaza, including Amey, Williams de Broe, Davis Langdon, Orega and Aedas.
Mark Harris, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, said: “This fit-out demonstrates perfectly the dynamic flexibility offered through what is a simple yet hugely versatile floorplate. The full-glazed façade on all sides provides an abundance of natural sunlight and Grant Thornton’s imaginative designs – with a number of unique uses of the space available – have smashed the traditional preconception of a commercial environment.”