November 2019

Another mission for Sheffield based practice Race Cottam, and this time to Scunthorpe for North Lincolnshire Council’s new HQ. Part refurb, part new build, this project saw the bringing together of several previously separately located teams under one roof.

Fabulous weather and even lovelier people meant this shoot was a pleasure to undertake, and despite the logistics of capturing a very busy building with both local government employees and a public interface, there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t happy to oblige and appear in photographs all day long. This kind of response is evidence of a marriage between a successful design outcome, and a happy, forward-looking set of occupants (and some might say it was because they were northern folk too!). It is always a challenge to rock up at a site and expect unsuspecting occupants to simply down tools (even if only for a moment or two) and appear in images which they know will subsequently appear in the public domain. All Martine can ever do is ask nicely and promise copies for personal use, there’s sadly, but understandably no magic purse on offer to send (what over the course of the day might amount to several hundred individuals) to the nearest hostelry for a ‘thank you’ drink afterwards. So, on that note, thank you Scunthorpe 🙂