ESA – part of Capita Symonds - has unveiled plans for the redevelopment of the former Courage Brewery headquarters on the River Thames in Staines, Middlesex.

The refurbishment of the 60,000sq ft office and underground car park – know as Ashby House (after Thomas Ashby, the local brewer) - seeks to strip the entire building back to its robust concrete frame and waffle slabs while reconfiguring parts of the plan to gain an additional 20,000sq ft of floor space.


The original building, which was constructed in 1989, has a distinctive, although dated, three-storey pitched roofed structure and banded brick cladding which will be removed.

The distinctive horizontal 'white' banding of the proposed design is a nod to these old cantilevered panels, while the horizontality suits the riverside setting and actually reduces the height of the building which is in a conservation area.

Nic Sampson, Design Director, ESA, said: "The result is effectively a new-build, providing Grade-A office space in the heart of the town."

Planning consent has just been achieved and a tender for contractors will go out in the summer with work expected to start on site in the autumn.

(CD/GK)