Two Colton Square is a former Leicester city police headquarters building that was recently converted to Grade A office accommodation. Located on the fringe of Leicester’s historic St George’s conservation area, the original police headquarters was completed in 1933 and had since been extended in stages. Adaptive reuse of the Grade II listed building involved removing the more recent extensions and replacing them with high quality open-plan office accommodation. The scheme was designed by DNA architects on behalf of Goodman UK, who have leased the office space to a range of commercial occupiers.

Although the quality and robustness of the building’s original skin and structure lent itself to being adapted and reused, the most challenging aspects of scheme stemmed from the fact that the building had Grade II listed status. The challenge for the scheme’s designers was to bring the building up to current performance standards whilst retaining the building’s charm and character. This has been achieved by complimenting the refurbished building’s original features with modern services and facilities, such as VRV air conditioning and broadband. In addition, the cellular parts of the original building compliment the new open-plan extension, providing greater versatility with respect to the use of space.