Silverbeck Rymer: Liverpool

Location: Dempsey Building, Brunswick Dock, Liverpool

Sector: Legal

Project Size: 20,000 sq ft (to accommodate 200 staff + expansion space)

Project Value: £1.4m

Programme: 26 weeks

Scope of Works: Consultancy > Design > Contracting

The Challenge

Claremont worked with the rapidly expanding legal practice Silverbeck Rymer to help them develop a strategy to deal with their growth. Having considered a number of options, the Dempsey Building on Brunswick Dock was selected. This gave Silverbeck Rymer 20,000 sq ft of undeveloped warehouse space previously used as a postal depot. The building had very limited essential services and was in generally poor condition, however, it was located in an area on Liverpool’s waterfront that was undergoing a great deal of regeneration. The brief stated that any property solution should provide accommodation for the existing staff levels of 204; feasibility studies showed that with careful planning the Dempsey building could accommodate up to 300 and beyond.

The Solution

A 10,000sq ft mezzanine floor was installed over the ground floor, the space below this accommodates a welcoming reception area with a client suite. An informal internet café and breakout facility is also provided with views across the river and doors opening onto the wharf side. The remainder of the ground floor consists of a spacious open plan office to encourage team work and communication. On the first floor mezzanine; a boardroom, training room and meeting facilities are provided with two Senior Partners’ offices. In order to take advantage of the riverside setting, a terrace for functions and client entertaining was created by cutting back the roofline and opening up two viewing areas.

The service installation was the most challenging part of the project, from constructing an entirely new separate sub-station, to designing an effective mechanical system for the volume of space. We exposed all of the services, using an innovative Dutch system with a number of ‘socks’ providing a quiet and energy efficient method of heating and cooling the space with truly instant results. Sophisticated IT systems were also accommodated, the Liverpool office is the hub for the other 2 regional offices demanding extremely robust IT services complete with stand-by generator and UPS.

The Result

The Practice has enjoyed many positive comments since moving out of the city centre, from both staff and clients. It is a testament to the forward thinking nature of the Practice that they have created an efficient workplace within a building that even ten years ago would not even been considered suitable for the legal profession.

Related downloads

'Offices of the Law' (FX) (PDF, 765K)
'Brief Encounter' (Facilities Management Journal) (PDF, 913K)