An ambitious project to boost the creative industries sector in the north-east of England has used Crittall Innervision steel screens and doors as a key design element.

A former Grade II listed post office in Hartlepool’s Whitby Street has been transformed to become The BIS, the town’s new hub for business start-ups offering a range of office and workshop spaces augmented by specialist support.

The £4million project, backed by Hartlepool Borough Council and the Tees Valley Combined Authority, is viewed as the catalyst for an innovation and skills quarter in a Victorian conservation area close to the town centre.

Leeds-based architects Group Ginger have retained the existing post office building and augmented it with a modern two-storey extension.The two parts of the building are linked by a covered courtyard, described as a multi-function open social space which is where Innervision steel screens and doors, based on Crittall’s Corporate W20 profiles, have been used. Acting as glass walls for individual workspaces, they also look out onto the social space to encourage collaborative partnership working and interaction between the new occupants of The BIS.

“This is a high quality project which is the pride and joy of Hartlepool,” says Group Ginger architect David Pogson. “The choice of Crittall’s Corporate W20 windows was not a difficult one – the quality of the brand product and the design stands out from the rest of the market and offers a unique identity to the courtyard.”

The seven bespoke screens, some incorporating doors, are finished in black Duralife powder coating and, by virtue of the slender but strong nature of their steel frames, enhance the transmission of light within the individual offices and the central space.

Says Mr Pogson: “The central social space is where existing buildings meet new interventions. Crittall windows are a timeless design solution which complements both existing structures and contemporary new spaces.”