The Beam
Riverside Sunderland is a new urban quarter which will transform the heart of Sunderland city centre. The 33 hectare site covers both sides of the River Wear and will deliver high-quality office accommodation together with complementary residential, retail, food and drink, hotel and leisure facilities. The reinvention of the former Vaux Brewery site in Sunderland City Centre is central to the Masterplan by Sunderland City Council.
Desco were appointed to design the M&E services for The Beam which is the first office building to be completed on the former Vaux Brewery site in Sunderland City Centre. The flagship project is the first of five locations around the city that will be redeveloped as part of a once in a generation £100million-plus programme.
The Beam stands five storeys high and provides 59,000sqft of Grade A office accommodation and includes a flexible ground floor space suitable for retail and leisure facilities. With a healthy workplace and work/life balance at its heart, the office spaces wrap around three sides of a courtyard atrium which is vibrantly planted, open to the sky and protected from the wind. As an open-air space, it will lend itself to staff meetings, lunch breaks and events.
Having provided the MEP design on the overall scheme, we were later appointed by Ocado direct to deliver the MEP fit out for their new headquarters located on the top two floors of the building.
The BEAM has been recognised in the following awards:
- Winner of RIBA North East Awards-2021
- Shortlisted for Integration & Collaborative Working-2020
- Shortlisted for Building Project of the Year-2020
- Winner of BCO Regional Awards- Commercial Workplace-2020
- Shortlisted for RICS Social Impact Awards North East – Commercial-2020
Project
The Beam
Location
Sunderland
Value
£13.5m