Derby Council House

A modern office housed in history.

The redevelopment of Derby Council House transformed the traditional 1930s building into a modern, sustainable office environment. Derby City Council wanted to utilise the space’s historic features while turning it into a modern workplace fit for the future – all within a constrained budget. This presented a variety of challenges: from upgrading the building fabric to achieving a greatly enhanced internal space that was usable, comfortable, and energy efficient.

New capacity.

We were appointed to provide fire strategy advice for the refurbishment and extension of this listed council building. The fire strategy included a detailed assessment to justify the increase
of the occupancy of the building from approximately 500 persons to approximately 3,000 employees and members of the public, while retaining the existing staircases.

Open connections.

Our fire strategy also included a detailed smoke layer analysis to determine the impact of a fire at a lower level on the means of escape from the council chamber, which is suspended in a triple height space and accessed by means of balcony walkways only. The basis of the analysis allowed these walkways to remain open to the adjoining accommodation and also avoid the need for any expensive smoke venting to be provided in the existing listed roof structure.