Sandwell Engineering retained The Colborne Architectural Group for the design, fit-out and relocation of their Vancouver office to an existing building at 1045 Howe Street. Four floors totaling 56,000 sq.ft. were gutted, upgraded and refinished for new offices for a staff of 270 employees. The scope of work included the planning and design of the new offices as well as coordinating the inventory and relocation of existing furnishings and equipment.

Three of the floors combine engineering disciplines and related support areas. The other level provides common reception, administration and logistical support functions. The main reception area and elevator foyers on each floor celebrate the scale and scope of Sandwell's engineering experience. Large graphic panels and project images cue the range of activities on each floor. Industrial materials are incorporated into the interior finishes in the reception area and media room. A palette of accent colours is used throughout the project to enliven the general office areas and meeting rooms.

This project demonstrates the firm's ability to plan for the needs of a large, complex organization and to design quality space within a very limited project budget and construction timeframe. The use of extensive interviews and inventory assessment during the design stage allowed the firm to design an open, flexible office arrangement which can respond to constant change in project team assignments.

The project schedule was governed by the timing of leasehold occupancy and move-in dates. Design and documentation work was completed by early November 1998. Sandwell took possession of the vacated space mid-December 1998 and was completely moved in as of the end of March 1999. Final construction cost was $1,166,000 ($21/sq.ft.).