Norwich Union’s Edwardian HQ joins the 21st century

Insurance firm Norwich Union’s grade I-listed headquarters in Norwich has been enhanced by a £90m makeover, including a glazed atrium.

The 36,000m2 refurbishment scheme, completed last month, was carried out by Land Securities Trillium.

The developer and outsourcing specialist took over the ownership, improvement and management of 22 Norwich Union properties in 2003.

The redesign of the offices, which were built in 1904, was undertaken by LSI Architects, formerly Lambert Scott & Innes.

The marble banking hall has been converted into a reception area that leads into an atrium. As an homage to the classical dome over the banking hall, this is topped by a gentle domed diagrid of white tubular steel supported by a series of tripods with vertical trunks and sloping branches in the same material.

The atrium links the main building with three seventies office wings, which together house 3,000 staff. It also contains a restaurant that replaces another on the same site. Aukett Fitzroy Robinson designed this and refurbished the office wings.

Norman Greville, managing director of capital projects at Trillium, said: “Part of our bid was to give the marble hall a part to play by making it a hub in itself with an atrium. It is now the entrance, which leads into a vibrant new space. It represents the fact that this is an organisation that has been around for a long time but has a modern approach.”

Faber Maunsell was the structural and environmental engineer, Davis Langdon the cost consultant and Bovis Lend Lease the construction manager.