St James’ Place

A site formerly part of Guernsey’s prison, and in more recent years used as a carpark, St James’ Place has risen to take its place in the St Peter Port landscape. Merging modern design with subtle references to the historic area it sits in, the office building has recently welcomed its new tenants to enjoy its facilities and spectacular views.

Situated opposite St James and Elizabeth College and in close proximity to Guernsey’s Royal Court, the challenge for the new office building at Rue Marguerite was to both fit in with its illustrious neighbours while making its own presence felt. Now complete, it’s a goal Steve Marie of developer Comprop thinks the team achieved: “I think the building looks excellent and is a genuinely good addition to the area. Aesthetically, it fits very well onto the site that we had to deal with.

“When you consider the streets surrounding it, it’s not a structure that stands out too obviously but instead it blends well into the street scene. It might be a brand-new building, but I think it looks as though it’s meant to be there, so I’m really pleased with it.”

While the building may have been designed to blend in, that lack of ostentation isn’t due to any lack of attention when it came to the architecture. In fact, the look of the building has been carefully designed to reflect and enhance its surroundings. Peter Garforth of Morris Architects in Jersey was responsible for the project. The firm’s designs were meticulously developed with the Guernsey Planning department who sought a highclass modern development on the site. He thinks they have maximised the use of a very tricky location: “The site’s topography and footprint dictated the design to an extent – we used curving forms to maximise every extent of the available site, while dealing with the deviation in levels along St James Street and La Rue Marguerite. From a massing perspective, we wanted to respect the neighbouring listed building while ensuring we had a modern interpretation of the classic Georgian building facades within the vicinity.

“This was primarily achieved by the development of the three-bay panel to form the basis of the main elevational treatment and the introduction of a granite plinth to give the building a classical hierarchy. The palette of materials was refined to simplify the language of the main street elevations with the use of vernacular coarse black granite to respect the adjacent Royal Court, GRC cladding, glazing and zinc panelling which enabled the scale of the building to sit coherently within a sensitive important historic street scape.”

The site may have been challenging to work with from an aesthetic perspective, but it had plenty of practical difficulties as well. These were primarily due to the site’s location in a built-up busy area and its relatively small plot size.

Rihoy & Son was the main contractor on the project. Managing director Gavin Rihoy said they managed to make it work despite the issues: “It was a tricky site, mainly due to the size. Having a postage stamp size site in the middle of town definitely had its challenges. But we were very grateful to the States who were very helpful regarding road closures.

“They let us use Rue Marguerite for the duration of the project, which meant we could have it as our laydown area from start to finish. Additionally, they allowed us to close the road running in front of the building dozens of times for cranage access, which was really helpful. I think the site would have been virtually impossible to build on without their help.”

WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE STREETS SURROUNDING IT, IT’S NOT A STRUCTURE THAT STANDS OUT TOO OBVIOUSLY BUT INSTEAD IT BLENDS WELL INTO THE STREET SCENE. IT MIGHT BE A BRAND-NEW BUILDING, BUT I THINK IT LOOKS AS THOUGH IT’S MEANT TO BE THERE, SO I’M REALLY PLEASED WITH IT.

IT’S A REALLY PROMINENT BUILDING, IN A SIZE THAT REALLY SUITS A SINGLE OCCUPIER AND IN A GOOD LOCATION. THE FLOORPLANS ALLOW FOR LOTS OF NATURAL LIGHT, AND THE VIEWS FROM THE TOP FLOORS ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

But built on it has been, with a Grade A office space offering four floors of accommodation and a floor area of just over 18,000sq.ft. Additionally, the basement car park allows for 19 secure underground car parking spaces, along with space for motorcycle and vehicle parking.

That underground car park was obviously key to the success of the office space, but creating it was no easy feat, as Gavin explained: “It took us over a year to dig out the site and put a waterproof concrete box in the ground to create the carpark, including stackers to maximise the parking provision.”

The design of the building meant that the structural steel frame didn’t line up with the basement car park, so a thick concrete ground floor transfer slab was put in, with the steel frame then sat atop that. Andrew Ullyott led the team from Jason Powers Consultants (JPC), who project managed St James’ Place for Comprop. His role involved overseeing progress from the various parties and keeping a close eye on the budget, programme and quality of the work.

For Andrew, it was important that the St James’ Place project was well planned from the start: “JPC came onboard at the beginning of the contract design so we knew exactly what needed to be done on site. The constraints of the area were the main limiting factor as it was only accessible on two sides due to an adjacent property and large retaining wall. Additionally, there are obviously a lot of residents in that area which is always a concern. But when we started the groundworks it was very well planned out and it all went smoothly.”

What Andrew and his team couldn’t plan for was the Covid pandemic, which affected this project, as he explained: “It undoubtedly caused issues with the programme and we did have to extend the timeframe on the project. The first lockdown we used the time as productively as we could to reschedule work and make sure we were organised to start again. The second lockdown was much less efficient for us as it came when we were at a critical part of the project on site.”

However, even once Covid was less of an immediate issue, there was little time to relax as the ongoing global uncertainty caused yet more problems. The GRC (glass reinforced concrete) panels that were crucial to the exterior design were due to be fabricated in Czechoslovakia and delivered earlier this year. Unfortunately the team making them were Ukrainian so February saw the start of major delays to that vital component.

Now resolved, those issues contributed to pushing the completion date to October. However, now the building is completed the new tenant is delighted to have taken up residence.

The building was pre-let by Watts Property Consultants. Managing director, Joanna Watts, said they had no problem finding a suitable tenant: “It’s a really prominent building, of a size that suits a single occupier and in a good location. The floorplans allow for plenty of natural light and the views from the top floors are stunning.

“We’ve had lots of positive comments about the design of the building. But people aren’t only concerned these days about how properties look. Their environmental impact is increasingly important. St James’ Place was BREEAM benchmarked, which helped meet the tenant’s ESG [environmental and social governance] requirements. This is something we’re seeing become more and more important to firms across all sectors.” The new tenant in St James’ Place is audit, advisory and tax firm, Grant Thornton. Having initially committed to a few floors of the building, as the work progressed they decided they could use the whole space and have the benefit of their name above the door. For managing director Adam Budworth, it was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up: “The chance to move into a building located in the heart of St Peter Port was a big appeal. This was coupled with the fact that our restructuring team wanted a location close to the Royal Court, and we could not get any closer than next door. As it was a turnkey solution we were able to influence the interior design from the outset, and having carried out staff surveys to understand what they wanted from an office, we finally had a chance to put that into practice in Guernsey.” What the staff wanted was flexible working spaces, with breakout areas, standing desks alongside more traditional office furniture, and amenity space. It was something that Adam was delighted to finally provide when they came to move in: “I was never convinced we were going to finish on time but the effort of the teams in the final two weeks was phenomenal, and it was only during these two weeks I could really begin to see the finished product.

“When I talk about the building I describe it as ‘fantastic’. The views are to die for and we now have so much natural light. We have showers in our building, a secure bike rack along with all the green credentials you would expect to find with a new build. The agile desks you can book are ergonomic with dual screens. I expect to see an increase in the frequency of visits from my Jersey colleagues.”

Those visitors will not only be able to take advantage of the facilities in the building, but enjoy one of its biggest selling points of all - the spectacular views outside.

WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE BUILDING I DESCRIBE IT AS ‘FANTASTIC’. THE VIEWS ARE TO DIE FOR AND WE NOW HAVE SO MUCH NATURAL LIGHT.

KEEPING UP WITH THE NEIGHBOURS

St James’ Place sits among some of Guernsey’s best-known historic buildings – all of which fed into the design and appearance of the newcomer to the block.

St James

Formerly known as St James-the-Less, the original church was designed by John Wilson and completed by 1818 at a cost of nearly £7,000. It was built to provide somewhere for the British garrison to worship in English as well as later providing a chapel for nearby Elizabeth College. After falling out of use by 1970, it was converted to its current set up and officially re-opened as a concert hall in 1985, with the restoration winning a Civic Trust Award in 1986. In 2002 further alterations were made with the addition of the Dorey Centre comprising meeting rooms, a café and administration space.

Royal Court

Building work commenced on the ‘old’ Royal Court in 1792. The stone on the pediment of the current Royal Court building bears the legend “GIIIR 1799” to reflect the fact the façade was completed in that year. The States agreed to further land purchase in 1821 to enable expansion and the construction of an upstairs Chamber and the space was gradually added to until the late 20th century.

When it became clear that a modern extension was necessary, Nicholas Hare Architects was appointed following a competition. The winning entry blended modern design with the old reclaimed granite from the prison formerly on the site.

Elizabeth College

Like St James, Elizabeth College was designed by the most notable architect of the period, John Wilson. Formally opened on 20 August 1829, the oldest remaining building on the site is the cottage on the lowest corner of the current campus. The College is currently in the process of constructing a large new facility in Upland Road, Perrot Court. The design of the main building was described unfavourably by David Ansted and Robert Latham in their 1862 publication ‘The Channel Islands’, as “unfortunately harmonising in its utter tastelessness with other modern buildings in the island” and being “erected at great cost” presenting “a bald, plastered, unmeaning face, too prominent to be overlooked.” Those involved with St James’ Place will be hoping for more positive reviews.

THE CONTRACTORS

Developer

Comprop CI Limited

Designers and consultants:

Henderson Green Jason Powers Consultants Morris Architects Tillyard Waddington Interiors Watts Property Consultants

Main contractor:

Rihoy & Son

Subcontractors:

Bluesky Office Channel Welders DW Stonemasons Edge Protection Systems Fineline Road Markings G4S Greg Forino Flooring Guernsey Metal Roofing MGN Fire Protection North Star Officeworks Otis P3 Projection Coatings Phase Mechanical Electrical Salisbury Glass Construction Sarnian Roofing Stainless Steel Fabrications UCF WOHR Parking Systems