Member Article

Construction on landmark new HQ begins

Work has started on the construction of a new landmark company HQ on the banks of the Wear.

Gaming giant tombola is building a new £6m head office at Wylam Wharf and Sunderland construction company Brims has started the 56-week programme of work.

CEO of tombola, Phil Cronin said: “We’re thrilled to be on site and it’s exciting to see construction of our new head office beginning. We’re working with a very talented design team from the north east including Ryder Architecture and Brims Construction.

“We are two years into our five year 2020 strategy and are on target to double our turnover and our technology team. The construction of our new HQ is an important element of our plans for future growth and further international expansion.”

The new 25,000 sq. ft. building, has been designed to create a riverside campus feel that will incorporate both old and new buildings as well as an exterior landscaped area.

Modern and technologically advanced open plan offices will be situated on the first and second floors and an eye-catching three-storey high atrium will flood natural light throughout the glazed building.

The ground floor will include a spacious reception area, a bistro and gym for employees with expansive bleacher style stairs leading to the open plan upper floors.

Ronnie Graham, director at award winning Ryder Architecture, said: “It’s great to see our vision for tombola campus beginning to take shape in this unique riverside location. The building will promote a cultural shift in office design through the delivery of a sleek, modern and desirable space - one that truly promotes collaboration and activity based working amongst its employees, linking them with their internal and external environment.”

Brims Director, Richard Wood added:“ ‘We’ve been aware of tombola’s plans and had tracked the project for a while. We see it as a landmark project for Sunderland as well as the North East. It has a cutting edge design and a very high specification which is exactly the sort of project and client we want to be associated with. We’ve worked closely with tombola and their team to get the project to this stage so it’s great to see the work get underway.“

The company’s current head office, based at Wylam Wharf is a former bonded warehouse, dating from the late 1700s and is one of only two warehouses surviving in the area. Throughout the design process tombola was mindful of the need to ensure the contemporary new building will complement the existing buildings on the quayside area, to provide a lasting link to the city’s proud shipbuilding heritage.

Founded in 2000, tombola.co.uk is the largest bingo site in the UK, with more players than any other company. The company is also the leading online bingo company in Spain and Italy with offices in Milan, Madrid and Gibraltar.

The company develops and produces original bingo software and games, created by an in-house development team and is one of the largest employers of game and web developers in the north east of England.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by tombola .