Last updated 10th May 2022
Scott Brownrigg
Scott Brownrigg is an international design practice providing architecture, masterplanning, urban design, interior design and town planning services. The firm became an employee ownership trust in April 2022.
Scott Brownrigg was ranked as 17th largest architect in the UK in the 2021 AJ100 survey with 95 UK architects and total fee income of £18.35 million, of which £17.53 million was delivered out of UK offices.
The firm works across a wide range of sectors including business space; advanced technologies, hospitality, aviation, defence & security, digital culture media & sport, education, health, rail and residential and mixed use schemes. It has offices in London, Guildford, Cardiff and Edinburgh. The firm also has overseas offices in New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Amsterdam and employs around 200 staff.
Over its 100 year history, Scott Brownrigg has worked on numerous major infrastructure, office and other schemes. Its notable projects include the Google hq in London, Chelsea Bridge Wharf, Heathrow Terminal 4, the MoD joint hq at Northwood. The firm was also lead designer on the new Istanbul Grand Airport. Meanwhile, the firm runs a Design Research Unit, the source of some key post war British design, particularly in transport.
In early 2020, Scott Brownrigg’s designed a new global hq for silicon chip designer Arm on Peterhouse Technology Park in Cambridge which houses some 1,700 employees.
Overseas, Scott Brownrigg launched a new entity in late 2019 to operate in the US and South and Central America, SB+C Architecture, D.P.C. in a move which formalises an existing strategic partnership between Scott Brownrigg and US-based Crown Architecture and Consulting, D.P.C. It aims to provide US developers with integrated design services that will fast track the development and renovation cycle. Scott Brownrigg acquired rail infrastructure specialists Acanthus Architects LW in 2018 as part of its international growth strategy.
In Scott Brownrigg”s latest annual report – published in late July 2021 – the firm said that Covid had led to lower than forecast levels of revenue in 2021. But the firm has continued to invest in its international strategy and had seen growth in its Middle East and Far East markets.
Scott Brownrigg”s design for ARM”s new hq in Cambridge was a finalist at the 2022 BCO awards, in the category ”Corporate Workplace”.
Financials
To view the financials for Scott Brownrigg Group Ltd. visit Companies House and use Company ID 04877539.
The latest available financial results for Scott Brownrigg cover the 18 month period to end-January 2021 – compared with the previous 12 months – and reflect the slowing in the firm”s markets linked to Brexit. The firm appointed a new finance director Ilze Williamson in April 2020, who joined from Air Partner Plc. Turnover at Scott Brownrigg Group stood at £27.9 million in the 18 months to January 2021, up from £23.42 million for the previous 12 months. (Turnover on a 12 month comparison fell by 21%). The firm reported an operating loss of £42,102 up to January 2021, compared to a profit of £598,166 previously which reflected market pressure on fees and Brexit uncertainty. Meanwhile, the group reported a pre-tax loss of £161 654, compared to a profit of £1.06 million previously. But the balance sheet showed cash of £5.97 million, up from £1.86 million and net assets of £12.04 million.
Projects
Scott Brownrigg operates through practice specialisms in architecture, masterplanning and urban design, planning and interior design and is involved with a series of significant projects across the country.
The firm is busy on a numerous film and tv studio projects with over 6 million sq ft of studio development projects live or as current enquiries. In late spring 2022, Scott Brownrigg’s masterplan for a new film and television studio campus was unveiled for client Yondr Group on a 143 acre site in central Bedfordshire near Stewartby and which is is set to bring 1,400 jobs to the local area. Meanwhile, the firm’s masterplan and architectural design for Shinfield Studios in Thames Valley Science Park received full planning approval early in 2022.
Elsewhere, Scott Brownrigg’s design for a new eco-therapy wellness park in East Ayrshire was submitted in late 2021. The Barony NP (UK) is a 44-hectare masterplan which will transform an ex-coal mine site with 344 villas, a visitor centre and other facilities.
A new 44,000 sq ft hq for (re)insurance group Chaucer designed by the firm during the pandemic to reflect the shift to flexible working was completed in late summer 2021.
In early 2021, Scott Brownrigg’s design was submitted for the £400-500 million Cambridge International Technology Park, involving 500,000 sq ft of speculative office and laboratory buildings for Abstract (Cambridge) on a 15.3 acre site jointly acquired with Peterhouse College. It will provide space for a range of lab and office space for users in various sectors.
The firm has also recently been LHC/Southwark Architect Design Services Framework and to Procure Partnerships Framework South West.
Other UK regional projects where Scott Brownrigg”s designs have recently been approved include the Museum of Military Medicine, which is set to move from Hampshire to a new site in Cardiff Bay.
Meanwhile in New York, SB+C Architecture has devised a transport-led masterplan in 2019 for the area around west Manhattan. Today, the firm is investing in its international strategy and its presence in Amsterdam has helped it secure corporate and tech-intensive projects.
Glenigan data
Glenigan data points to a busy and varied workload in the UK at Scott Brownrigg. It shows that the firm is the architect on a new £17 million office extension at Aztec West Bristol where detailed plans have been granted and work is due to start in spring 2022 and continue for some 16 months (Project ID: 19157146). Glenigan data also shows that Scott Brownrigg is the architect on a major £30 million project to replace Howard of Effingham School in Leatherhead with a project involving a new school, around 290 houses and six flats and where work is due to start in early 2023 (Project ID: 19311283).
Conclusion: A healthy workload and a growing presence in the busy film studio sector
As one of the top firms of UK architects, Scott Brownrigg has a strong portfolio across a wide variety of sectors which it has succeeded in taking into international markets. As well as expertise in major sectors, the firm has specialist skills which put it in the top tier for the design of complex government and defence facilities. The firm has inevitably seen some Brexit-related slowing in new work but it appears to be taking full advantage of its track record in designing landmark buildings – notably the new hq building for Arm in Cambridge – for both the public and private sector. Expansion into new areas such as tv & studio development should help to keep the firm busy.
Winning work with Scott Brownrigg
Scott Brownrigg takes a holistic approach to high quality design which it aims to deliver with integrity and pragmatism. The firm aims to provide fresh and innovative design solutions for each of its products and it is committed to providing innovative and new ways of working and to preserving the natural environment, It aims to provide clients with a service that combines excellence in creative design with commercial intelligence.
Contacts:
Darren Comber CEO
Tel: 020 7240 7766
Email d.comber@scottbrownrigg.com
Richard McCarthy Board Director; leads the residential and industrial sectors.
Tel: 020 7240 7766
Email: r.mccarthy@scottbrownrigg.com
Bruce Calton, Group Director, based in Guildford