Buyers and sellers will feel at home in ‘most welcoming estate agency’ in Cambridge

December 2, 2019

People buying or selling a home with Bidwells are set to enjoy ‘the most welcoming visitor experience in Cambridge’ after the 180-year-old property consultants revealed plans for a new Trumpington home for its estate agency business.

Proposals for Bidwells’ second new ‘fully-agile’ building in two years have been approved by city planners and the firm is today revealing CGI impressions of how the glass-fronted pitched-roof 5,000 sq ft building will look when complete.

Bidwells re-opened their headquarters, the 21,000 sq ft Bidwell House, in early 2018 after a transformative refurbishment project to create Cambridge’s first fully-agile refurbished building.

The multidisciplinary firm won plaudits for delivering a step change in the quality of its client service by creating a larger and more enticing visitor area, eight stylish new conference rooms and a large open plan 140-seat café where clients are encouraged to stay for lunch or coffee after meetings.

Bidwells’ new Trumpington High Street home for its Cambridge sales, lettings and new homes business will integrate the flexibility and functionality of Bidwell House with a stylish and welcoming interior design approach. This will ensure visitors receive the same warm welcome and flexible service as they do in Bidwell House.

Head of Residential, David Bentley, said: “Our ‘agile working revolution’ has been such a success in Bidwell House so we’ve taken everything we learned during and after the move and applied it to our home sales and lettings business. Our offices will be open, comfortable, engaging, warm and will reinforce to everyone that our door is always open for a coffee and a chat about their home.

“Buying and selling a home is a hugely important decision and a sometimes-stressful experience so we want people to feel comfortable when they come and see us and not feel rushed. We want it to be the most welcoming visitor experience in Cambrige.”

 

The new business space will have much closer links with Bidwell House promoting the use of central, shared facilities like the new Brewery Café. Visitors will arrive through a double height glass-fronted entrance to be greeted by a high-tech video wall and digital signage system playing high quality multi-media presentations of homes on offer from Bidwells.

The building’s gabled timber roof and exterior has been designed to be sympathetic to the neighbouring thatched roof cottage but with solar panels in the roof and a modern interior environment system the building will exceed building regulation standards.

David added: “The building’s design takes the best of the traditional Trumpington High Street and it is unusual for a commercial building to have a timber finish on the roof. But we’re most excited about the welcoming reception layout and stylish interior design, which means visitors will feel part of in a modern and inviting space. We’re thrilled with the designs and can’t wait to get in there now.”

The site’s existing buildings have been demolished with construction beginning soon. Bidwells’ sales, lettings and new homes teams expect to vacate their existing Stonecross building and move into its new home in Autumn next year.

The firm’s offices in Milton Keynes, Oxford, London, Norwich and Perth have also been refurbished this year to support agile working.