Lingfield Point, Darlington is the latest of these regeneration schemes. The conversion of the 1950s wool factory into creative contemporary work space has been a real challenge but one which has been uniquely satisfying.

The dramatic loft-style space has attracted prestigious companies such as  Student Loans Company, Faulkner Brown Architects and Capita and has recently won various awards for excellence such as Best Commercial Property at the 2009 Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors’ North East Renaissance awards and the 2009 Refurbished/Recycled Workplace award from the British Council for Offices’ North Awards.

Working with leading artists, architects and designers we’re developing a real and vibrant new community with, and for, the people of Darlington and the wider Tees Valley.

Add to this a range of spectacular new buildings by international architects FAT and you get a seriously good-looking, interesting and varied scheme.

We recently gained planning consent for a truly sustainable mixed community at Lingfield Point with 1250 low-energy homes, a school, on site renewables, public sport facilities, artist studios, cafes and bars. It’s even got its own allotments and beehives from which we’ll be producing our own organic fruit and veg to serve in our café and children’s nursery.

We first cut our regeneration teeth with Centre North East in central Middlesbrough. A 1970’s 17 storey building overlooking the centre of Middlesbrough it had been unloved for many years. We reinvented the building through the use of art, a new name and dogged, creative promotion and were able to let the entire 125,000sqft over a period of 18 months. Our customers brought over 2500 new jobs to the town. It’s no exaggeration to say that Centre North East became seen as a barometer of the successful regeneration of the Middlesbrough.

With its fabulous pink neon light art installation, ‘Rose’ by Ron Haselden it sits like a beacon at the centre of the town and we’re rather proud of it.

We’ve been lucky enough to own many historic buildings including the beautiful grade II* listed New Lodge in Windsor.

The house was built in 1857 by the Belgian ambassador Sylvan van der Weyer as a wedding present to his new bride on land gifted to him by Queen Victoria. This beautiful Victorian Gothic manor house stands in 55 acres of landscaped grounds on the edge of Windsor Great Park.

Not an obvious regeneration project, again the building had lost its viable use and needed to be reinvented. We got a lot of pleasure from restoring its original Gothic beauty and furnishing it with appropriate period furniture – thank God for ebay! We also worked with a wide range of specialist craftsmen and artists who helped restore the building and grounds to their former glory. Beneath this period exterior we installed state of the art IT facilities in keeping with modern occupiers needs.

The result has been the creation of a highly successful and rather high value business community who treasure the building they work in. That makes us feel good!