Berwick Workspace

Located in the heart of Berwick-upon-Tweed, this building houses flexible office space with shared facilities for new and growing businesses in the area. The brief required the building to generate a creative bustle within the traditional grain of Berwick’s close and courtyard pattern, in particular one that links to surrounding streets, courts and buildings.

This new development of two and three storeys follows a simple z-shape plan, a revised version of the original footprint of warehouses on the site. A new close linking Boarding School Yard to Walkergate represents a major departure from the previous pattern, the yard becoming the heart of a busy network of routes — the traditional Berwick pattern made open and permeable. Four parallel pitched roofs across the z-plan produce a roofscape where the relaxed volumes, with their mix of eaves and gable, regain some of the qualities of the existing buildings.  

The entrance/reception has waiting, meeting and information areas, overlooked by the first floor informal meeting space. A conference venue and meeting space opens onto the front courtyard. Above the first and second floors are the main incubation and lettable offices with simple flexible rooms in a variety of sizes