Architect drafted in to rethink Scottish Police estate post-covid

A Newcastle-based architecture practice has been chosen to design a post-covid workspace for the Scottish police.

GT3 Architects has been chosen to create a pilot workspace at Police Scotland’s Dalmarnock building in Glasgow, which is responsible for the force’s operations across the west of Scotland.

In a contract award notice the police said the decision was part of a strategy first made public in 2019 that had only increased in importance following the covid-19 crisis.

It said: "A key component of this strategy is how ‘smarter working’ and flexible working practices can be incorporated and adopted across the estate to create modern working environments that contribute to — the wellbeing of our people; improving morale; generating more efficient use of space allowing greater collaborative working; rationalisation of the Estate and potential generation of revenue/capital savings.

"This is particularly relevant in a post-covid-19 climate and how workspaces now need to be designed for enhanced wellbeing of our officers and staff, as well as efficiency and effectiveness."

GT3 has been appointed to conduct a capacity and utilisation study, taking into account the short, medium and longer-term impacts of covid-19, create an effective space design for the future for the Dalmarnock building and implement delivery of a pilot workspace.

The Dalmarnock building, which opened in 2015, was built by Morgan Sindall and cost £24m.

The architect is required to deliver the pilot within a six-month period during the first year of the contract.

Should the pilot be successful and funding is available, the firm will then be required to deliver recommendation and design outputs from the pilot in full during year two of the deal. This second year is optional should the pilot not be successful or funding is not available in 2021/22.