Practice Overview & Office Capability
About Us
Corstorphine & Wright is an award-winning architectural practice with design studios nationwide. We have a unique reputation – we’re known both for creative excellence and commercial edge.
We design spaces with that elusive ‘must-have’ quality, translating requirements, constraints and opportunities into places that are more than the sum of their parts.
Using our insight-led approach and drawing on experience from our 300+ strong team, we help invigorate communities, excite stakeholders and maximise long-term value.
For further insight into our practice, please visit our website at www.corstorphine-wright.com
Why Corstorphine & Wright
With Corstorphine & Wright, you get better places and spaces – which means more value for clients and communities. Using our straightforward methodology and drawing on cross-sector experience, we deliver a designdriven service with a commercial edge.
Enjoyment
Collaboration
Working together for a common purpose
Innovation
Loving what we do
Integrity
Inclusivity
Being bold and pushing boundaries
Being honest and responsible and abiding by our Values
In Numbers
13 studios throughout the UK
135 leading UK property PLCs and developers have worked with us
300+
strong team of experienced professionals who share learnings from across the practice
40 years’ of industry experience
85% of projects have been for repeat clients over the past 3 years
Our History
Corstorphine & Wright was established in 1978, trading continuously over the past 45 years.
Darlington Studio
Niven Architects come on board to establish our north east studio
Leeds Expansion & aLL Design
Corstorphine & Wright welcome Architecture 519, further consolidating Leeds presence
The Beginning
Corstorphine & Wright was established by John Corstorphine and Tom Wright
Bluelight Team
Simon Crosby re-joins the practice to form specialist Bluelight Team
Tamworth Studio
WHP Architects join to establish our Tamworth studio and specialist Health Team
Jeff Downes, Michael Barnett Warwick
Reborn
Downes, Paul Turner, Lampard & Stephen re-established the and London studios
Manchester Launch
Acquisition of Damson Design to open Manchester Studio
Stourbridge Studio
BBLB join to open our Stourbridge studio
Leeds Studio
CAL Architects join to establish our Leeds studio
Scotland Launch
Corstorphine & Wright joined forces with SasanBell in Glasgow
Birmingham & Canterbury
Birmingham & Canterbury studios opened
London Studio
Lipton Plant Architects join to enhance our London presence
Our People
Thanks to our balance of architects, technicians and designers, you benefit from a focus on design excellence, delivery and viability. And with specialisms in areas like masterplanning, conservation and urban design, you get the insight you need to achieve your goals.
Our Design Ethos
Great places stem from a clear local identity, filling a deep-rooted human desire for belonging. They foster a human connection, adding commercial, civic and social value.
How do you achieve a great place?
Great placemaking comes from a Big Idea. That idea provides the framework for design decision-making at every scale. It creates a sense of intellectual rigour, consistency and completeness in the finished product.
Distil & Amplify a Sense of Place
The sense of place stems from an analysis of the site’s current and historical context. That way, downstream design solutions flow seamlessly as the natural next chapter.
Generate a Convincing Narrative
The narrative is a rigorous, insight-based response to the context, opportunities and constraints. This ensures designs have form and meaning, fostering local identity and community connections.
Prioritise People, Place & Purpose
Well-designed places are built for people. This means spaces and buildings are legible, respond to their purpose and add meaning to the activities they contain. It also means there’s a positive relationship between buildings and the public realm always acknowledging a human scale and proportion.
Keep it Simple, Efficient & Sustainable
Elegant buildings and pure forms are more memorable. Well-designed and proportioned repetition – combined with a limited material palette – delivers visual consistency and robust, sustainable building envelopes.
All Scales are Informed by the Big Idea
The Big Idea is the filter for all decision-making. This leads to the unified, harmonious quality we recognise in all good design – and helps us unlock commercial, civic and social value.
Maximising planning consents
People -focused Big Ideas
Optimising appraisals
Value for communities and clients
De-risking construction
Our Sector Experience
When clients talk about our creativity and commerciality, they always mention our cross-sector experience. We’re known for our sector depth and breadth. Knowledge sharing is built into our process, so you get a unique perspective that incorporates innovation from other industries.
You see this in the way our student living schemes foster communities. You see it in the way our hotel, retail, residential and office expertise promotes placemaking in mixed-use projects. You see it in the ways our bluelight and defence specialists design schemes that boost operational efficiency. And the list goes on.
Our studios span the UK, and we have a deep understanding of how developments and planning work nationwide. We drive projects forward thanks to 40 years’ experience working with a range of partners, stakeholders and supply chains.
Whether it’s a hotel in Scotland, a mixed-use scheme in the Midlands or a military barracks on England’s south coast, you benefit from a culture of collaboration that delivers better results.
Offices
Urban Design
Residential
Bluelight / Defence
Student Living
Market insight and knowledge sharing are built into our approach. This creates more opportunities to invigorate communities, excite stakeholders and maximise long-term value.
Life Sciences & Industrial
Retail
City Living
Mixed Use / Leisure
Hotels
Interior Design
We have extensive experience working with developers and owners to maximise efficiency and drive commercial success – while creating spaces people want to live and work in.
Our approach looks at the holistic working environment, considering how amenities, break-out spaces, meeting rooms and desk areas integrate to boost productivity and inspire staff.
Companies are increasingly attracting staff by focusing on wellbeing and flexibility. Office space plays a vital role in reinforcing and enabling these concepts.
East West, Nottingham
54 The Broadway, Ealing, London
From iconic corporate headquarters to multi-occupier developments and historical refurbishment schemes – we help you achieve your project goals, on time and within budget.
UKBIC, Coventry
Royal Liver Building, Liverpool
Alpha Tower, Birmingham
Key Commercial Clients
Public Sector
Universities
Contractors
SELECTED EXPERIENCE
Companies are increasingly attracting staff by focusing on wellbeing and flexibility. Office space plays a vital role in reinforcing and enabling these concepts.
Our approach looks at the holistic working environment, considering how amenities, break-out spaces, meeting rooms and desk areas integrate to boost productivity and inspire staff.
SELECTED EXPERIENCE
54 The Broadway, Ealing, London
Sector: Offices
This development forms part of the Ealing Broadway Shopping Mall complex located in the centre of Ealing, directly off The Broadway in London.
The development comprises the refurbishment of an existing 3-storey office building located above existing ground floor retail units. It includes a reception entrance lobby at ground floor level, basement shower/change facilities, plant space within the roof loft areas and a rear courtyard amenity space.
Exterior works include new windows throughout, new curtain wall glazing to the front elevation, new plant installations at the roof loft level and minor external works to adapt the existing planters at the reception entrance.
Office areas are completed to category A standard, complete with new services installations throughout.
We also upgraded the rear external courtyard at first floor level to include new timber screens, a steel entry gate, a cycle enclosure and cycle stands. We adapted existing planters to form timber seating decks, with new paving and soft landscaping to existing planters.
EastWest, Nottingham
Sector: Offices
EastWest presents 175,860 sq ft. of contemporary, openplan office space - some of the best Nottingham has to offer.
Located in the heart of the city, it’s designed for life/ work balance and built for teams to thrive. With remodelled communal spaces, a new on-site café, and spaces to collaborate, catch up or unwind.
By refurbishing and not building from new, we reduced the use of raw materials and embodied carbon, without compromising on quality.
Two office suites have been fully refurbished and launched to market, offering 6,500 sq ft and 5,300 sq ft of the highest quality city centre workspace.
Additional improvements to the glazing, lighting, heating and ventilation have significantly boosted the energy rating. A cycle spa, fitness space, showers, drying room and lockers are being delivered, benefitting the 1,300 people who work in East West.
“EastWest has been given a fabulous new look, delivering a flexible and contemporary working environment with a wide variety of new on-site amenities. The building has been revitalised, responding to businesses wanting healthy, sustainable and productive space that will help to attract and retain the best talent.”
Olivia Hughes, investment manager at CEG
Royal Liver Building
Sector: Offices
Overlooking the River Mersey and dominating one of the world’s most famous waterfronts, the Grade l-listed Royal Liver Building provides 320,000 sq.ft of office accommodation. Corestate Capital purchased it in 2017 and is working to revitalise the 106-yearold landmark.
The 3 buildings line the waterfront as part of Liverpool’s UNESCO-designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City. Embracing the building’s commercial heritage, the initial refurbishment secures The Royal Liver Building’s adaptability to ever-changing commercial market needs – in a sensitive manner that conserves and enhances its Grade I-listed status.
The initial refurbishment reactivates a large vacant unit, which spans approximately 4,850 sq.ft of the basement, ground, mezzanine and first floor levels, set around the east atrium lightwell.
Responding to market demand, a greater variety of flexible and smaller suites are offered with desired social amenities, including a café-bar, breakout spaces, meeting rooms and kitchenettes. The interior fit-out was designed by award-winning practice 2M2 Studio.
These also extend the period of time the building is in use. Health and wellbeing are considered, with a basement fitness centre, yoga studio, lockers, shower facilities and secure cycle storage to aid and encourage active travel.
The double-height central atrium is activated by the café-bar and seating areas for collaborative working, informal meetings and breaks.
Uncovered original features combine with high-quality finishes reflect the building’s industrial heritage in a contemporary manner. Exposed concrete, particularly in the basement suite, references original innovations of the building – one of the first in the world to be constructed using reinforced concrete.
The design realises client and tenant aspirations for more engaging environments.
Upper Gough Street, Birmingham
Sector: Offices
Upper Gough Street introduces two new BREEAM outstanding office buildings in Birmingham City Centre totalling 180,000 sq.ft. It is the first phase of more comprehensive redevelopment plan of this key site opposite The Peace Garden that houses the remains of St Thomas’ Church which was half demolished during the Birmingham Blitz in 1940. From the outset, we wanted to celebrate the connection to the Peace Garden and introduce new vistas and pedestrian connectivity that frames the remains of the church.
The design aims to create a new unique office building in the centre of Birmingham. Incorporating a new pedestrian route with active ground floor uses to The Peace Garden will help to invigorate this location as a truly mixed use and vibrant part of the city.
Quality social and working spaces that allow collaborative working will be essential in attracting business back into the city once occupation begins to return to pre pandemic levels.
Whilst being located outside of the traditional office quarter, this scheme aims to use sustainable aspirations as a key USP to attract future office occupiers, with a target to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding office building that would be a first for the city.
a BREEAM Outstanding office building that would be a first for the city.
Wilton Centre, Redcar
Sector: Commercial & Life Sciences
Wilton Centre is the premier science park in the North East of England and provides office, laboratory and pilot plant accommodation. The park is adjacent to Wilton International and sits in the heart of the North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC).
To further enhance its offering Corstorphine & Wright has delivered a £2m refurbishment scheme to add a new, welcoming entrance, reconfigured reception, 2 new restaurants and a collaborative co-working area.
The Wilton Centre remained open throughout the pandemic and during the refurbishment works.
Wilton Centre accommodation manager Claire Morton said providing support for its occupiers, as well as facilitating collaboration between them, were key priorities.
UKBIC, Coventry
Sector: Office & Advanced Production
Corstorphine & Wright was appointed to oversee the design and construction of a new Battery Development Facility, the first of its kind in Europe, and lead the design and delivery of the internal fit out.
We worked directly with the newly formed company to develop a strategic process layout, and then created a classleading internal fitout programme to allow motor-industry partners to run exclusive development programmes from the site.
The £129m, 18,000 sq.m facility provides concept to realisation facilities for cutting edge battery technologies in a high-quality environment.
Alpha Tower, Birmingham
Sector: Offices
A refurbishment of one of Birmingham most iconic landmarks, Grade II listed Alpha Tower. Working closely with the CEG, we have developed design proposals for the front of house and office areas whilst also providing the address for our Birmingham Studio.
Our solution required the development of proposals that work within a live environment, and deliver a vibrant and modern social space to attract new occupiers to the short tenancy offices and new Alpha Works serviced co-working offices.
Our proposals included ground and basement refurb inc reception, lift lobby, wayfinding, cafe, and breakout spaces. The basement was fully refurbished to include a new gym, changing rooms and showers, cycle storage, contemplation room and drying room.
Further refurbishment of the top floors for a high end client, cojoined with a new feature stairwell.
Derby Council House
Sector: Offices
Responsibility included provisioning office accommodation for elected members and political areas, as well as creating a new council chamber for public and private meetings – all in a single location.
The vision was to create a one-stop shop for local services while making it easier for staff to work with the public and across departments.
The project commenced in January 2010. We gained planning by December 2010 and completed in December 2012.
At the time of our appointment, it was clear that – while locally listed – the building was complex and not in great condition. It had suffered from further sub-division of original cellular layouts, creating poor internal spaces and an unpleasant working environment.
We worked closely with conservation officers and received a Certificate of Immunity from English Heritage, which led to creative retention and refurbishment of the impressive mayor’s staircase and mayor’s chamber.
The result is a light-filled, open-plan space within the existing envelope, while preserving historic features.
The project had ambitious sustainability targets of BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and EPC A ratings, and we were able to exceed these.
Leveraging the building’s location on the edge of the River Derwent, we developed a plan for a hydroelectric generator to deliver clean, renewable power. This initiative lifted the EPC rating to A+ and resulted in a final BREEAM score of 81.
The central atrium space has been constructed with a steel-framed structure and a large circular fanned roof light, which defines the circumference of the chamber space and creates a welcoming environment.
New floor space has been created using large spanning pre-cast floors and a new steel frame inserted within the existing building envelope.
BCO National Award
Winner of ‘Best Refurbished / Recycled Workplace’
LABC Regional Excellence Award
Winner of ‘Best Large Commercial Building’
Green Apple Award
Winner ‘Gold Award’
10-12 Temple Row, Birmingham
Sector: Offices
This scheme involved a full refurbishment to transform a vacant, outdated 1960s office block in Birmingham City Centre into a modern, vibrant office space, meeting the high standards and expectations of commercial occupiers in the city.
10-12 Temple Street is located within a conservation area, forming one of the key routes from the newly refurbished New Street Station up to St Philip’s Courtyard and Birmingham’s core business district.
The building has been entirely stripped with new entrance, core and office space incorporating exposed services and LED lighting. The façade was replaced with new full height curtain walling glazing to maximise natural daylight, eliminating the solid appearance of the black stone over cladding of the existing concrete elevation, introducing a more vibrant, interactive and animated exterior which creates a positive impact on the street scene and neighbouring conservation area.
A new floor was added at level 7 through the removal of the internal walls and courtyards associated with the original caretaker’s accommodation, and the flexible floorplates can be easily subdivided to suit the needs of a range of occupiers. The existing carpark basement was transformed to provide a large cycle park with high quality shower and changing facilities.
The entrance area was redesigned to create a sense of arrival at the building and greater impact at pavement level, with improved level access via the incorporation of a sesame style lift, new signage and a new reception area for visitors.
Unusual Rigging HQ, Northamptonshire
Sector: Industrial & Manufacturing
Unusual HQ is a new headquarters office project for a rigging company located in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire. The building is situated on a wider 4-acre industrial site, which will enable the expansion of the company’s operations by freeing up the warehouse currently housing the office. The design of the new office building is focused on sustainability, drawing on Passivhaus standards and circular economy principles, while minimizing embodied carbon.
The building features a glulam and timber frame, with natural building materials used throughout its construction. The proposed design includes on-site rainwater attenuation within the biodiverse landscape proposal and pond, further reducing the building’s environmental impact. Renewable energy is provided via rooftop photovoltaics and a ground source heat pump.
The building consists of two functional rectangular wings over two storeys, linked by a central double-height atrium space with a feature staircase. This central space frames the new landscaped courtyard and entrance, providing a welcoming and visually striking experience for employees and their guests.
The internal layout of the building offers a combination of open-plan offices, private meeting rooms, and communal breakout and canteen spaces. The design of the office has been thoughtfully planned, with a focus on providing an efficient and comfortable workspace for employees, while also allowing for flexibility and adaptability.
The Unusual HQ project represents a forward-thinking approach to office building design. The use of sustainable materials and features, coupled with a focus on employee comfort and adaptability, demonstrate the potential for a building to be both environmentally responsible and a great place to work. By setting an example for other companies to follow, Unusual HQ is making a positive contribution to both the environment and the business community in Northamptonshire.
BCO Midlands and Central England Awards
Winner of ‘Corporate Workplace Award’
The Unusual HQ project represents a forwardthinking approach to office building design. The use of sustainable materials and features, coupled with a focus on employee comfort and adaptability, demonstrate the potential for a building to be both environmentally responsible and a great place to work. By setting an example for other companies to follow, Unusual HQ is making a positive contribution to both the environment and the business community in Northamptonshire.
Victoria House, London
Sector: Commercial & Life Sciences
Victoria House is a Grade II Listed, neoclassical building in Bloomsbury, London.
Corstorphine & Wright have recently been commissioned to create over 400,000 sq.ft of laboratory enabled accommodation for multiple tenants through the careful refurbishment and adaptation of the building for WAPG.
With life sciences as a key focus, flexible, high specification laboratory spaces are being created to attract world leading scientific businesses. Also included will be generous co-working spaces, flexible office spaces, meeting rooms, cafe and a gym amongst other amenity spaces.
The Hub, Kent Science Park
Sector: Commercial & Life Sciences
Kent Science Park is a unique business cluster on 22 hectares within the Thames Gateway growth area. It houses companies operating in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, ICT, renewable energy technologies and contract research.
The number of expanding and new businesses at Kent Science Park (KSP) has grown in recent years, placing increased demand on existing cafeteria and meeting facilities. Our brief was to design a central focal point building with amenities for current and future tennants.
It was clear at the briefing stage that the new building must meet the growing range of lifestyle requirements, as well as the CSR objectives of the individual businesses that base themselves on the park.
With around a third of our lives at work, it’s was absolutely appropriate that the provision for wellness should also be
incorporated into the design. This was considered at the earliest design stages, acting as the nucleus around which the rest of the space was delivered.
The Hub is located at the heart of KSP, the chosen plot is sandwiched between the main site road (with its district heating pipes running in the pavement) and the edge of a landscaped Japanese garden and adjacent pond. These tight physical constraints had a strong influence in the initial concept design and proved to be challenging at Stages 4 and 5, especially structurally and operationally.
The plot was originally occupied by a defunct single-storey R&D building, which was asbestos stripped and demolished in early 2018. Further instances of asbestos contamination were discovered in the ground, which resulted in a challenging programme before the build itself commenced.
The building is simple in form and designed to create a vibrant working environment. This simplicity allows park users and visitors to easily connect and collaborate, while encapsulating the spirit of technology and science in its modern appearance. It comprises a steel frame on an in-situ concrete slab and piled foundation.
The external envelope is wrapped in a built-up standing seam cladding system, with feature fins accentuating the northern elevation. The eastern elevation is extruded to an open canopy, which provides shelter as well as shading for solar gain. Large expanses of curtain walling and windows provide plentiful natural light and connect The Hub to its surroundings. This connection is further enhanced by the paved courtyard area beyond the canopy and the stepped interface with the central landscaped area known as the Japanese gardens.
The Hub houses high-quality catering with state-ofthe-art conference facilities. The double-height café utilises the ground floor for everyday use and the upper mezzanine level available when required. The upper floor acts as breakout space for the meeting rooms and for dining at larger meetings and conferences.
The flexible meeting space can be configured to provide 1 to 3 meeting rooms with full AV connectivity, or up to 170 people in theatre-style seating.
The Hub is the heart of daily life at KSP and is creating a community. Julie Fenwick, Office Manager at GW Pharmaceuticals, remarked: “The HUB is a wonderful addition to the KSP facility…great food, great service, conference rooms and some great meeting spaces – and all of this under one roof!”
The building is simple in form and designed to create a vibrant working environment.
Snapshots: Office
One Temple Row
Location: Birmingham
Royal Exchange
Location: Manchester
White Lion Walk
Location: Guildford
Bradford Court
Location: Birmingham
Westwood Training Centre
Location: Coventry
Sustainability
Our team is passionate about sustainable design and construction. Corstorphine & Wright are currently undertaking and have completed a number of projects that can be considered highly “sustainable” buildings some of which are certified BREEAM Excellent or higher.
Corstorphine & Wright are proud to be one of the founding members of the Green Building Council and to have designed and built the first BREEAM Excellent building for BT in the UK. We employ environmental engineering specialists who are highly trained in sustainable design including accredited Passivhaus Designers, and exemplar low and zero-carbon technologies. We seek to integrate sustainability at the concept stages of all projects prior to planning and again at RIBA Stage 3 (Spatial Design) and our primary objective is to deliver buildings that are sustainable throughout their entire lifecycle, including their construction and operational phases. This initiative is developed on a holistic basis, which means that, wherever possible, our specialist input is concentrated on the design of the building fabric, structure and envelope at the early stages.
Our Europa Way Triangle development in Leamington Spa for Vistry delivered 54 residential dwellings designed to achieve operational net zero carbon. Warwick District Council targeted a 100% reduction in regulated carbon for these dwellings and the Design Team collaborated to develop a specification that would meet the demanding target.
As the scheme started to be developed, it was necessary to define what ‘net zero’ would mean. Part L 2013 was the applicable building regulation for energy efficiency. The government had not yet responded to the consultation on Part L 2021 (as part of progressing towards the ‘Future Homes Standard’), so it was for the Planners to decide on a target that surpassed the regulations and met their Net Zero Carbon commitment.
On our Epping regeneration project, the townhouses aim to achieve Passivhaus accreditation with the remaining apartments adhering to quality mark 4 or higher. These all include a 35% improvement on Building regs. Part L, a fabricfirst approach aligned with EFDC guidelines and TM59 design requirements are being met to prevent overheating and to meet future climate change projections we are using MVHR units, and roof areas are a source of on- site energy generation. All the buildings have an optimised design for daylight and views and designed to prevent overheating.
• ISO 14001 Certified
• Founder member of UKGBC & signatory to Architects Declare
• Designs employ Passivhaus principles; super-insulating, exceeding Standards, PHPP, air tightness and energy efficiency
• BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ & ‘Excellent’
• Dedicated Director of ESG
• Team of 17 Sustainability Champions across all studios
• Sustainability Framework designed to achieve NZC
• WELL Standard
We have also demonstrated our commitment to addressing the Climate Emergency by being founder members of the UKGBC and signatories to Architects Declare.
Former Co-op Store, Coventry - Retrofit to Residential
Europa Way Triangle Development, Leamington Spa
Council House, Derby - BREEAM Excellent, EPC A+
Our Studios
Glasgow
145 St. Vincent Street
Glasgow, G2 5JF T: 0141 222 2676
Darlington Suite 1 Ground Floor
Coniscliffe House Coniscliffe Road
Darlington, DL3 7EE T: 01325 260 055
Leeds
The Studio Candle House
1 Wharf Approach
Leeds, LS1 4GH T: 0113 213 5656
Manchester 4th Floor
Tribeca House 21-27 Dale Street
Manchester, M1 1EY T: 0161 272 8100
Fordingbridge
27 Glasshouse Studios Fryern Court Road
Fordingbridge
Hampshire, SP6 1QX T: 01425 655 806
Bristol
Clockwise Bristol
Generator Building Finzels Reach, Counterslip Bristol, BS1 6BX T: 020 7842 0820
Newcastle Suite 8
Sixty Grey Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6AH
T: 0191 816 3437
Stourbridge
The Old Library
Hagley Road
Stourbridge, DY8 1QH
T: 01384 909 850
Birmingham Floor 20
Alpha Building
Suffolk Street Queensway Birmingham, B1 1TT T: 0121 737 8350
Warwick
Brook Hall
Brook Street
Warwick, CV34 4BL T: 01926 658 444
Tamworth
5 Aldergate
Tamworth B79 7DJ T: 01827 67123
London
21-27 Lamb’s Conduit Street, Holborn, London, WC1N 3NL T: 020 7842 0820
Canterbury Canterbury Innovation Centre, University Road
Canterbury, CT2 7FG T: 01227 786 231
www.corstorphine-wright.com contact@cw-architects.co.uk corstorphine-wright @cwrightarch corstorphinewright