Office Principles North delivers skills company’s new sustainable Solihull office

Interior design consultancy Office Principles North, has completed the design and delivery of the new green office of Energy & Utility Skills in Solihull.

Office Principles North has handed over 5,000 sq ft of CAT B office space on the first floor of Avon House off the A34 Stratford Road, near Shirley.

Its design facilitates hybrid working for up to 70 employees, offering a combination of modern, open plan office space, with hot desking, meeting rooms and collaboration and breakout areas.

Sustainability is a key feature of the fit out, in line with Energy & Utility Skills’ vision of ‘skills for a greener world’, and boasts a range of environmentally friendly features such as biophilia, planting and a moss wall.

The scheme has been independently assessed as having surpassed sustainability good practice criteria and is one of only a handful of UK office fit out projects to have achieved Ska gold certification.

Energy & Utility Skills has signed a ten-year lease at Avon House and has relocated to the building from Blythe Valley Business Park.

Katie Jarvis, account manager at Office Principles North, said that Energy & Utility Skills is one of many employers that have chosen to redesign office space to support hybrid working.
She said: “The role of the office continues to evolve from solely being a place where work is carried out, to a destination that promotes collaboration and brings people together.

“Energy & Utility Skills is committed to providing an inspiring and inclusive workplace for its employees and clients. We have delivered a flexible space where people have the freedom to move around and work in different ways, giving them a great experience.

“As a business that operates in the energy and utilities sector, the environment is hugely important to Energy & Utility Skills, so we used the Ska rating method to ensure that the project followed sustainability good practice criteria.”

The fit out is the latest project awarded to Office Principles North in the West Midlands. The firm has previously completed the design and refurbishment of 148 and 154 Great Charles Street in Birmingham city centre on behalf of Ergo Real Estate, the creation of 24,000 sq ft of Grade A office space at nearby Summer Row for Aegon Asset Management, and the Solihull headquarters of fast-growing underwear and apparel brand, Lounge.

More recently it delivered more than 23,000 sq ft of CAT A office accommodation on level 14 of Birmingham’s The Cube, and the new Birmingham home of law firm Shoosmiths at 103 Colmore Row.