“Altitude Glass provided valuable technical expertise and a range of specialised glass for EKM’s brilliant new contemporary-styled premises, which ultimately made the top ten shortlist for the Inspired Spaces North initiative.”
Taking inspiration from globally-renowned brands like Google and Facebook, the vision for EKM’s new headquarters was centred upon the concept of “world-class facilities for a world-class business.
The EKM team approached our experts at Altitude Glass to help them realise this vision for their premises. In addition to the practical aspects, the idea of aesthetics was key to the brief, so our specialists paid particular attention to these qualities as we designed, supplied and installed the glass. Our director Sharon Snape also lent her considerable technical expertise, taking a crucial role as she assisted with the overall design of the premises.
Upon our completion of the project, EKM’s £3.5m workplace was quickly shortlisted for its first design award; specifically the Inspired Spaces North initiative, created to celebrate “truly outstanding workplaces”. The panel of judges picked out the first 32 entries, and the final ten were chosen through a public vote. With the benefit of our design expertise and technical insight, EKM comfortably made this top ten shortlist (which you can see in its entirety here).
“The brief was to make this the coolest workplace in Lancashire, and I think we’ve achieved that!”
EKM’s new premises houses workspaces across three levels, so due to the size and scale of the project, it was a notably diverse brief, requiring us to design, supply and install several types of specialised glass products to fulfil various individual roles.
This included the atrium glass, and glass partitions in the offices to provide a degree of separation between workspaces (and useful soundproofing) without losing any of the sense of space. We also installed fire-rated barrier glass on the upper levels to guarantee total safety as it provides a fantastic view down onto the beautiful LED-lit reception area. The reception area itself is home to a stunning glass wall feature, and nearby on the ground floor is a set of entrancing colour-changing sandblasted glass corridors. We took care to ensure that the aesthetics of our glass products were all spot on, so that the finished designs were worthy of the environment as a whole.
“The brief was to make this the coolest workplace in Lancashire, and I think we’ve achieved that!” said Sharon Snape, our director. She goes on to explain: “We’ve gone for an individual look in each of the areas. There’s a woodland theme downstairs, while upstairs there’s a more industrial look, with exposed lighting and trunking.”
The aesthetics and design blend perfectly with the cutting-edge contemporary look of EKM’s premises, which include an expansive new kitchen and dining area and a high tech auditorium that can be used for local businesses. Alongside this there’s an eye-catching meeting room inside an original Airstream caravan, and a giant three-storey slide which runs from the top floor to the dining area.
EKM currently employs a team of 85, but the Preston offices have capacity for 250. Antony Chesworth, the owner of EKM, says the size and scale of the project matches the company’s ambitions, and was thrilled with the work that Altitude Glass produced.
He said: “Given everything that has been invested into the office, it was particularly amazing to see it shortlisted for the Inspired Spaces awards – and it means a lot that other people love it just as much as the EKM team does!”
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