AJ Retrofit Awards

Cornerblock in Birmingham has been shortlisted for an AJ Retrofit Award, an award that celebrates design, engineering and construction excellence that prolongs and improves the life of the built environment.

The project saw the re-invention and re-wrapping of Two Cornwall Street in the heart of Birmingham’s Colmore Business District. The 1980s building had been disused for many years despite its prime location but client Bruntwood felt that it was clear that it offered an excellent opportunity to provide modern flexible workspace right in the heart of the CBD.

The design process involved a complete rethink of the functionality of each floorplate – from the ground up – to improve the appearance, efficiency, performance, quality and amenity across the building.

Already a winner of a BCO Award and a Birmingham Civic Society Award, the project involved retaining and extending the structure to create a flexible, high quality office building. The external and internal appearance has been completely transformed, effectively creating a new office building at significantly reduced construction costs, in a reduced timescale and using a fraction of the embodied energy that would have been expended if the existing building had been demolished and then rebuilt.

The AJ Retrofit Award winners will be revealed in September.