January 2021
On 13th November 2020, the HQ staff said goodbye to Gladstone House and moved into the newly built NW RFCA HQ, Alt House. Whilst, the majority of NW RFCA HQ staff are still currently working from home due to the pandemic, the staff who have been working in the new build have quickly adapted to their surroundings.
The ground floor, which boasts multiple meeting and conference rooms, all of which have the necessary equipment to enable virtual conferencing, is bright and welcoming. Downstairs also has toilet and shower facilities; a kitchen/staff room, as well as supporting store areas; plant room; electrical and server rooms.
The first floor, which is a combination of open plan style and glass partitioned offices also has a welcoming atmosphere and because of the design of the building, with natural daylight filtering into the entire office space and building, this contributes overall to a healthier working environment. This floor, where our 30 employees will be based, has high visibility both around the office and to the outside world. A large skylight along with the glass walling lets in an enormous amount of natural light throughout the day and yet the environment is not hot or stuffy thanks to the tint on the windows and the brise soleil – an architectural feature that reduces heat gain by deflecting sunlight, a sun-visor for the building!
All these factors – and a lot more besides – have contributed to our being on target to achieve a rating of BREEAM Excellent for the building. BREEAM is the world’s longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of buildings and achieving a rating of Excellent with elements that are Outstanding will make this a landmark building that is likely to feature in case studies for affordable, sustainable design. And it’s at Altcar! Needless to say, this is a building we can all be proud of and enjoy working in for many years to come.
