News

The platinum forge.

15/11/2017

Kirkstall Forge achieves Wired Platinum.

Number One Kirkstall Forge has become the first ever commercial building in Yorkshire to be awarded Wired Platinum certification.

The Wired Platinum certification is awarded by the digital connectivity rating company WiredScore. Platinum is best in class and only accounts for around 10 percent of buildings worldwide.

Kirkstall Forge is an ambitious regeneration development next to the River Aire, with family homes, offices, shops restaurants and leisure facilities.

With this fantastic accolade, the building enters an elite club – which includes the Empire State Building in America, The Shard in London and MediaCityUK, Salford. It is the first time a Leeds building has secured the Platinum rating, in fact very few buildings in the north of England have achieved the accolade.

We worked closely with Fox Lloyd Jones, developer CEG and the tenant Zenith to deliver world-class connectivity and infrastructure. Zenith is relocating its UK headquarters to the top four floors of the building.

Better ways of working.

As the first of three office blocks on the development, Number One Kirkstall Forge provides more than 100, 000 ft2 of flexible space. Featuring 2.8-metre tall floor-to-ceiling glazing, the Grade A offices is about empowering the inhabitants and providing a stunning space that promotes collaboration and better, more sustainable ways of living and working.

We worked closely with the client and wider design team to challenge industry norms and think differently about the space. We made sure we considered the resilience requirements in detail, and crafted a design that would truly future-proof the building. The early stage modelling was key to this, and allowed us to work closely with the client and design team to deliver a super-efficient EPC ‘A’ and BREEAM Excellent building.