Simple steel frame and precast floors give a raw, minimal character that references Sunderland’s industrial past
RIBA North East Award winner 2021
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios for Sunderland City Council
Contract value: £13.5m
GIA: 5,521m2
Cost per m2: £2,445
The BEAM is an unusual speculative office building, the centrepiece of the continuing and ambitious regeneration of Sunderland’s city centre Vaux site. It is designed as a non-conventional offer, taking in a number of themes. The design of the building aims to be healthy by being naturally ventilated and sustainable, using passive environmental design. The practice has employed the principles of lean construction to keep embodied energy low, and its simple steel frame and precast floors give it a raw, minimal character that not only references Sunderland’s industrial past but also an aesthetic that appeals to the new creative companies that are using the space.