AN award-winning firm of Tees Valley architects has been chosen to design a new business park in Stokesley.

What makes the project special is that it allows clients to design buildings to their own needs.

Mark Barlow, DKS Architects partner and lead architect for the development, said: “Office space is commonly designed speculatively, with most clients having to make do with what’s available.

“All companies operate differently, so when it comes to finding the right building, one size does not fit all.

“This new expansion of the Stokesley Business Park gives companies the opportunity to be involved in the design and layout of their own buildings, making sure they get more efficient office space specific to the way they work.”

Earlier this year, DKS, who are based in Stokesley, won the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors commercial category award for the design of Armstrong Richardson’s offices in Stokesley Business Park.

Due to the success of their own building, Armstrong Richardson – the landowner – has employed DKS to plan a further development by designing over 8,000sq m of commercial and industrial buildings on an adjacent site.

The buildings will be built using a consistent palette of materials, designed to a boulevard layout with plenty of landscaped open space.

Construction is expected to begin in February with the first units up and running by the end of 2009.

David Mack has recently joined the DKS Architects as a senior architect in the design team.

He was previously design director at JM Architects, a leading Edinburgh practice, and has designed large public and office buildings including Lomond Shores, a striking retail building on the shores of Loch Lomond.