Describing the move from the old County Hall site to our
current corporate headquarters.
The building that was to become Endeavour House was
originally designed for TXU Europe but we bought the
partially-finished building, for approximately half its original
value, in March 2003 after the energy company folded.
We then had just a year to complete construction, including
adding a purpose-built council chamber, complete with the latest
audio-visual equipment, and accommodation for over 1,000 staff and
councillors in the new building. We successfully achieved this and
staff moved into Endeavour House in March and April 2004.
The design of the building helps to break down barriers between
departments and encourage staff to meet up frequently and
informally. It is open-plan with glass walls both inside and out;
this makes it extremely light and airy. It consists of three wings
built round a central atrium with staircases and bridges linking
all areas.
There are no individual offices, but plenty of small meeting
rooms and ‘break-out' areas where staff can meet. We also have a
large restaurant and coffee platform, which also add to the
extended informal work environment.
We spent £16.75 million for the building which is roughly half
its actual value, we plan on covering some of the cost of our new
building through the sale of our nine acre site in central
Ipswich.
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) have also
contributed £1 million to the purchase cost of Endeavour House
because our presence in the Ipswich Village area will stimulate
development in a major economic regeneration area.
In the long term, the county council will have lower running
costs in a new, energy efficient building. The building also boasts
a host of other environmental features including:
- mini recycling centres throughout the building for paper,
bottles, cans and batteries;
- photo-voltaic array (solar electric panels) contributing
approximately 72,000 KWh per year to the electricity use in the
building. This is about the same as the energy used by 20
houses;
- rainwater collection system that is used to flush the toilets
and water plants;
- sensory lighting system that automatically detects whether
people are in office areas and meeting rooms and switches lights on
and off when necessary, and dims them on very sunny days.
Further
information
Contact
Suffolk County Council - for general queries.
Location
map - how to get to Endeavour
House.