Leaders from the construction and office design sector have descended on Belfast for an inaugural event.

The British Council for Offices (BCO), will be supported by construction company GRAHAM Interior Fit Out, when it holds the 'BCO Northern Ireland Talk and Tour of BT HQ and Talk on new BCO Specification Guidance' at BT's Riverside House building in the city.

GRAHAM Interior Fit Out, the firm behind the fit-out of the multi-million pound project, is one of the sponsors enabling the event, which aims to educate and share best practices in the office space industry.

BCO, which is part of the Property Industry Alliance, will host the event today, Thursday 20 April 2023 (2.30-5.30pm).

Hillsborough-headquartered GRAHAM Interior Fit-Out completed BT's Riverside House in January, in what was its fourth contract with the communications giant, BT, and its largest to date.

BCO's event will include a presentation and tour of the building, showcasing its latest technology, flexible working, and collaboration areas for BT's 2,000-strong team.

The talk on BCO's new Specification Guidance, which focuses on responses to challenges emerging from the pandemic and recommendations in respect of greener and healthier offices, will be given by two of its contributory authors, Claire Danahay of Be Inspired Design and Peter Stocks of Cundall.

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Among the guests will be BCO members which include organisations involved in creating, acquiring or occupying office space, including architects, lawyers, surveyors, financial institutions or public agencies.

Commenting on the event, Peter Minnis, chair of the BCO NI sub group, said: "It's superb to see the BCO hold its first event here in Northern Ireland and at such a fitting location. The BCO's fundamental aim is to research, develop and communicate best practice in all aspects of the office sector; the new Specification Guidance we have recently launch is a significant piece of work that will help to inform the real estate sector on how we can best create sustainable workplaces which are fit for purpose both now and in the future.

"We would like to thank everyone involved in helping to arrange this event and we hope that it is the first of many more to come."

Speaking about BCO's decision to hold its first event at BT's Riverside House, Mark Gibson, Managing Director of GRAHAM's Interior Fit-Out division, added: "We are very proud of our project for BT which has given way to a fantastic workplace fit for the future, transforming the way BT works and how it serves its ever-growing customer base. BCO's move to host its first NI event there is testament to this project which speaks volumes about how office spaces should look and how they should be constructed, and really endorses the fact this is a prime example of future-fit office space.

"We look forward to sponsoring the event alongside TODD Architects, GRAHAM's partnering delivery architects and interior designers, Faithful Gould and Cundall — firms that were also instrumental in the execution of this project.

"Riverside House is GRAHAM's highest value fit-out contract to date in Belfast and being able to showcase it to decision-makers in office space construction can only help to change the face of the office for the better and in line with BCO's mission."