Commercial Projects have formed a significant part of Butterworth Associates & Design Limited’s portfolio of completed work. The Practice is well versed in commercial/mixed use projects of varying size and scale. Argus Insurance HQ, A.S. Cooper & Son offices and store, The Bank of Bermuda Compass Point, Richmond House Phases I and II and the Bargain Box are significant local projects in which the practice has recently been deeply involved. In addition, the firm has produced many significant design studies for commercial projects in Bermuda which await financing or are under construction. Additionally, the principal and senior staff of the company have been involved as the responsible designer or authors of a large number of projects both in Bermuda and overseas.

The projects listed below are offered as an example of the depth of experience of the principal and senior staff of Butterworth Associates & Design Limited in this category. In all instances, the work was performed under the direct responsibility and authorship of present staff personnel either as a principal or as the project leader.

Some of these properties are quite old now but they can be regarded as an indication of the depth of experience the practice has had and the enduring quality of the buildings themselves, sometimes after changing ownership several times.

Partial List: Commercial, Retail and Mixed Use Architectural Projects

• AALL & Co. Limited
  • Overseas H.Q., Grand Cayman
• ARGUS Insurance Ltd.
  • New Headquarters Building 
• HSBC (The Bank of Bermuda Ltd.)
  • Compass Point
  • Par-la-Ville Branch
  • Airport Branch
  • St. Georges Branch Restoration 
• Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son
  • Rosebank Centre
  • Grand Cayman H.Q. 
• Bargain Box 
• Bermuda Press (Holdings) Ltd.
  • Columbia House 
• Cayman Foods Ltd.
  • Supermarket, Grand Cayman  
• Conyers, Dill & Pearman
  • Clarendon Building 
• A.S. Cooper & Son
  • Department Store & Offices 
• Masters Ltd.
  • Bulls Head Facility 
• Perry
  • Shoe Store
• Richmond Holdings Ltd.
  • Richmond House Phase I  
  • Richmond House Phase II 
• Scarborough Properties Ltd 
  • The Ace Building 
• Trimingham Brothers
  • Retail Store extensions
  • Watlington Warehouse 
•  Victoria Hall Company
  • Victoria Hall 
• West Hamilton Limited
  • Belvedere Place

Argus Insurance Ltd., Bermuda’s largest insurance entity, spent a great deal of time considering the options available to them to build a new Corporate Headquarters. Butterworth Associates first helped Argus to choose their new site and then advised on the development potential. The company asked Butterworth Associates to help them select the design architect. Butterworth Associates withdrew their participation in the design process and set up for Argus a limited architectural competition to choose a design architect who would then be commissioned to obtain planning approval.

Butterworth Associates and their team of consultant engineers were then chosen to take the chosen design for the building through a building permit application and then a programme of construction drawings and specifications that led to the winning design being tendered for construction. The project underwent several modifications as it progressed, including an increase in size to its current gross area of 81,800 sq. ft. Wherever possible the original design elements were adopted and, as a consequence, the building features limestone clad facades quarried in Germany and major stainless steel portico framing. The building has sophisticated electrical and data distribution systems via a 100% raised access floor. Butterworth Associates were also chosen to administer the construction contract.

We decided that we must be scrupulous in following the chosen design regimen, but we had been chosen to make the the building work to very high performance and durability standards that were demanded by the management. The building had been designed with its two street elevations clad in stone. Eventually a stone from Germany was chosen, Jurasic Limestone. Two shades and textured surfaces of this stone are featured throughout the entrance facades and the lobby interiors. The contrasting shades and textures chosen are quite unique to tis buiding and it remains the only Quarried stone facade in Bermuda (apart from the Anglican Cathederal) Methods of attaching the stone facade were discussed but a traditional cladding using perfectly cut stones and Stainless steel fastening brackets to produce an almost seamless facade was eventually chosen. This demanded Professional Stonemasons from the UK where the art of stone faced buildings is still propagated by the building code of the City of London.

The same skill-sets were required for the extensive stainless steel entrance detailing for the forecourt and all the stainless steel handrails and windows throughout the building. The crowning touch of the entrance lobby is a large, unsupported, stainless steel helix staircase. A helix is a spring but this stairway has natural stone treads, glass balustrades and thus cannot tolerate any movement whatsoever. It was designed by our Architects and Engineering team , fabricated and inspected in Nottingham, tested and approved and then cut into large pieces to be shipped to Bermuda, where it was reassembled by the same team who first built it and cut it up. Go and look for the joints!

Argus now has its new headquarters and a building that the Bermudian building industry can be proud of.

The Committee of 25 approached the practice initially for advice on the condition of their existing 2-storey metal framed building at 2 Midsea Lane, Pembroke as it was increasingly costing more to maintain the structure which was over 20 years old. After some analysis and consultation with the Committee, who own and operate the Bargain Box Store, it was agreed to do a full review of the site potential with regard to providing both a new home for the Bargain Box Shop and some viable income for the Bermuda charity enabling them to carry on their charitable purpose in the future.

The initial brief from the Committee was a replacement building housing the Bargain Box Shop on the ground floor with rentable space on the first floor. We reviewed the economics of the project with consultants and advised the Committee that a third and possibly a fourth floor would be needed to sustain the immediate and future income requirements. The design brief was that the new building be sympathetic with the surrounding neighbourhood and buildings even through the zoning was Industrial. Also as the name of the charity implied, it needed to be handicapped accesssible and functional at all levels. The practice took the approach that any new building for the Committee needed to make a statement about their objectives regarding their service to the wider community and their immediate neighbours. We undertook a review of the surrounding buildings and produced sketch proposals showing a building that we felt would reflect the ideals of the Committee and be a landmark building on Serpentine Road for them. The site had, in effect, not a front or side view, but rather a view more diagonally on from the southwest. It was decided that the 'front' of the building needed to be softened to reflect a more residential form in keeping with the Reading Clinic and Bermuda High School accross the street. Ample verandas on the south elevation continue around onto the western facade ending at the more formal main office enterance to be used by the building tenants. The Bargain Box Shop would use the south facing entrance for access in their premises.

There were a number of issues with the site, the least of which was the proximity of the ground level with the water table,  a mere four feet. This impacted all service systems from the water catchment tank to disposal of waste. Fiberglass water tanks and sewage treatment systems were used as these would be impervious to the brackish water of the marsh land in the area. The remaining building proceeded without other major issues and now with the building complete the Committee of 25 have moved into their new headquarters.

This building was conceptually produced by the Butterworth team of professionals and presented to Planning in 1987. The Client brief called for a contemporary building with classic proportions, a design concept that would not date and a move away from ponderously detailed civic sized architecture. The building was to house the Bank’s financial services, its investment division plus the electrical and back-up facilities for the Bank’s entire suite of buildings in Hamilton. Its design was required to cater for a very high level of current technology and accommodate future change in this fast developing aspect of building services (which it does to this day). In addition to being handsome, the brief called for a structural integrity sufficient to withstand 160 mph wind loads and be capable of being entirely self-sufficient from external utilities for many days.

The Butterworth Team produced all contract documentation and maintained control of all engineering aspects of the project. All members of the team of consultants that were assembled for this are still used by the practice today. It is worth noting that the building exterior walls were all prefabricated in the UK and shipped to Bermuda ready glazed. The principal material used was cast, stone faced, glass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC). There is no steel reinforcement of any of these panels. The building fabric is still in exceptional condition as it concentrated on traditional detailing of the facades to cast off rainwater and avoid staining. The chosen materials were prefabricated in the UK, fully pre-glazed, tested and shipped to Bermuda. The cast panels were 60% lighter than traditional pre-cast concrete. All joints between panels are precisely the same (specified) size and only one panel was damaged during construction. The Building is also a credit to the contractors for whom this was a first venture in pre-cast construction with tight tolerances.

Contract administration followed with a strict overview to limit unwarranted extra expenditure during construction. The construction documentation and administration were sufficiently good to allow us to report to our client that the project was completed for roughly 1/2% over the original contract price.

Our team continued the process through an extensive interior design program whereby the client’s changing needs were identified by extensive research and interviews. Cooperation with the client’s own in-house facilities organisation brought the complex task of equipping and furnishing the new building into the same tight budgetary constraints.

The entire project was completed on time, without cost escalation.

We are particularly pleased with Compass Point.

Located on Front Street, Hamilton is a recent example of the detailed development advice that Butterworth Associates & Design Limited have been called upon to give its clients. The holding company, faced with an inevitable modification programme forced by required system upgrades, asked Butterworth Associates & Design Limited to advise on the remaining development potential of their property, the feasibility of realising the potential and the likely cost of the work. Design Limited were also able to give further advice on the complex phasing of the work schedule so as to minimize the amount of disruption to the company's core business.

This project continued the use of the services of a combined architect/engineering consultant relationship with the client. The project commenced construction in February 2005 and was completed in the late Fall of 2006.The finished building has changed very little since its concept sketches.

The original building on the site was a very “iconic” part of the traditional architecture of Hamilton’s picturesque Front Street shopping area. The new building has been designed to re-create the icon (without slavishly copying every detail) and echoes the traditional two and three storey buildings of this famous street. The upper office floors have been designed to loosely replicate the vista of a roofscape receding behind the department store frontage. The Reid Street elevation uses the same construction details as the Front Street façade but conforms to the planning requirements of that street.

Belvedere Place is a high-end, mixed use redevelopment of an old industrial site. It is unusual and quite unique in that it enjoys a position on the very edge of the capital city, Hamilton. It represents an opportunity to place a tasteful office, retail and an apartment development in a single campus on one of the best sites still available in Bermuda.

The Owners decided to hold an architectural competition for the professional architectural work involve in this $105M project. Butterworth Associates were the winners of this competition and awarded the project to design and document to completion.

This competition-winning design used the services of Butterworth Associates and their consolidated team of consultant engineers and landscape designers. The project is an outstanding example of a large commercial project of serious financial significance that was entirely entrusted to the responsibility of a Bermuda-based architectural practice from the outset. Our organisation has the responsibility for the choice of consultants working on the project under a single contract with the owner.  With a completed cost anticipated being over $100M., we are particularly proud of the trust shown in our abilities. The economic climate suffered greatly in Bermuda and as a result this programme has been delayed until the real estate market improves. Only the Basement Car Parks and all foundations were completed when work was stopped.

Richmond House was conceived as a classic piece of urban infill. Located in the centre of a developing street of side-by-side lots, this office building was designed around a phased development of two adjacent lots for a triumvirate of clients who needed the building for a mixture of owner occupation and speculative rental.

The building, in each phase, had to be of a high quality finish, with building services and structure arranged to give maximum flexibility of use and a minimum of inconvenient downtime during changes. The usual team of consultant engineers were used to provide the work that included raised access floors for easy data and power distibution and rapid rental changes. The building has been a compatible host to many companies, however one of the original owners, Conyers Dill and Pearman, now occupy a large portion of the building

A prefabricated street elevation of reconstituted stone faced, glass fibre reinforced concrete panels was chosen to facilitate consistency of finish and ease of connection when Phase II was joined to Phase I. This concept was chosen due to an ability to produce a repeat order of the cladding panels. This did not work two well as as the original supplier went into bankruptcy in the three years that separated the construction of each phase. Butterworth’s staff supervised the colour selection process at the new manufacturer’s factory in Ireland so well that the panels, even in Bermuda's critical lighting conditions, were a perfect match with the older units. The engineered molds were reproduced from existing drawings

Phase I housed all stairways, washrooms, elevators, etc. for both phases on its northern side. Phase II merely duplicated the office space on the northern side of the join line, leaving the completed Richmond House with a central service core.

Butterworth's staff performed a full service for Richmond Holdings Ltd. from design concept, budget negotiations, documentation, bid procedure and construction contract administration.

On completion of the base building, the shell was subdivided for the various tenants and Design Limited again contributed to the concept, documentation and construction of many of the interior spaces for individual tenants.