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VERCO CASE STUDIESWorkplace fit-out - Verco best treatment for former hospital A major conversion of a famous Newark landmark incorporates a very modern treatment of office furniture to complement the building's Victorian architectural heritage
The project to supply and install furniture to the building - the city's former hospital - was carried out by Verco Office Furniture dealer, Sykes Office Supplies on behalf of one of the city's older businesses, Derry Building Services. The company has grown over the past 260 years under the stewardship of ten generations of the Derry family into one of the UK's most advanced mechanical and electrical building contractors. Its engineering and CAD technology skills have enabled Derry's to take a lead in design innovation. Resultingly, the company's specialist design and build team has completed projects across all market sectors including retail, leisure, distribution and commercial. "Growth has meant expansion and this in turn has prompted our move to larger premises," said director James Derry. "The Old Hospital is not only central to the town, it's very much a part of its heritage. Preserving this historic landmark is important to a company that has been a part of Newark life as long as ours' has." Key features of the refurbishment of this gothic Victorian redbrick building include the retention of its imposing front elevation, the restoration of its railings (long removed to support the last war effort) and the installation of floodlit uprisers on its access path to add even visual impact to the building frontage by night. The building ground floor accommodates cellular office areas for Derry's contracts departments. A sympathetic treatment to the interior includes stripping and restoration of wood floors and the retention of a central staircase that leads visitors up to the company's creative 'engine room' - the main electrical and mechanical offices. These are housed in the hospital's former men's and women's wards and benefit from high ceilings and expansive window areas to both sides providing ample space and light for the environment. Duncan Lee from Nottingham-based Sykes Office Supplies recognised the need for a workplace furniture solution that complemented the old wards' architecture whilst meeting the aesthetic and functional needs of workstation-dependent users.
Said Duncan: "We were all drawn to Verco's new Visual beam desking range immediately because it looked so good and worked so well. "Its desk support beams slot into leg frames without tools within minutes making it easy to install. Both wards have storage to central areas complemented by screen-divided desking configurations of 1600mm x 1000mm tops to house each user's CAD needs with extensions for meetings and to spread out design plans. Personal storage needs are also met using the Verco range. This overall mixing and matching of old and new has worked to good effect. "The recurring wave of Visual's screen and worktop edge profiles allow the furniture configurations to flow through the work areas, optimising space without losing any of the furniture's intrinsic elegance," Duncan Lee observed. James Derry agreed that a desired effect had been met as had design staff needs: "furniture always has to be right but even more so when staff are spending as much time at workstations as ours. "This furniture is both practical and has added to the successful revival of this building as a working environment."
Further information on Verco's Visual range on tel. 01494 448000. Web Watch: www.verco.co.uk | www.sykesoffice.co.uk |
