DVLA, Swansea
Architect: Boyes Rees, Cardiff
Client: Land Securities/Trillium/DVLA
Boyes Rees Architects has recently completed the fifth phase of a major office upgrade scheme for the DVLA in Swansea.
Working closely with Trillium Property Partnerships (formerly Land Securities Trillium) and Kier Western, Boyes Rees has delivered a complete architectural redesign of the existing 65,710m² site which is home to over 5,000 DVLA staff.
The estate wide development project involves the refurbishment of a five-storey office and print facility; the refurbishment of an 18-floor office block; the design and construction of two highly sustainable new buildings, as well as external works and landscaping.
The most recent phase to be completed is the newly constructed 7000m² 'A Block', which now houses several amenities and welfare facilities and a second floor comprising of office space.
'A Block' is an excellent example of a modern day sustainable office building, having been designed to incorporate a number of sustainable features, including the use of grey water recycling and maximisation of natural ventilation. We have designed the building with the aim of achieving a rating of 'Excellent' by BREEAM. The construction process was also particularly sustainable due to the fact the building has recycled foundations, having been constructed using the foundations of a previous building on the site."
Gary Loo, director of Boyes Rees Architects
The other new completion is 'Block F' which now houses an on-site crèche. The 500m² building has also been designed to achieve an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating.
Extensive work has also been undertaken to refurbish an existing 1,203m², five-storey office block, as well as the largest element of the project, a 4,052m², 18-storey office block. The refurbishment scheme has included extensive internal modernisation to improve the working environment, as well as the addition of thermal insulation and new windows to improve the energy efficiency of both buildings.
"The extensive redevelopment scheme has so far proved to be a huge success, and we feel the combination of refurbished office space combined with new contemporary facilities has worked out extremely well."
Jeremy Morgan, estates project manager for the DVLA
As well as being the lead architect on the scheme Boyes Rees also undertook the interior design for the scheme using bright colours and large scale graphics to create an interesting and vibrant working environment.
