The Award-Winning Digital Forum

The Digital Forum has just been recognised at the Constructing Excellence Essex Club Awards with not one but two trophies, picking up Building Project of the Year and the Conservation & Regeneration award. For everyone who has watched this vision grow from a complex historic site into a working business hub, it's a real moment of pride. 

 

Anyone who has walked past the former bus depot on Queen Street over the past few years will know how much work has gone into this building. What started as a long-empty site has been transformed into a modern, future-fit home for Colchester's digital and creative businesses. The redevelopment paid careful attention to the heritage of the site, including a façade that nods to the original 1800s Theatre Royal that once stood there. The result is a space where Colchester's history and its digital future sit comfortably side by side. 

These awards belong to a wider team than any one organisation. Horizon Construction Group led the build, Inkpen Downie Architects shaped the design, and Daniel Connal Partnership added their expertise to the project. Colchester City Council backed the vision from the start. Each partner played a part in turning this site from concept into reality, and the judges at the Constructing Excellence Essex Club Awards saw exactly what Colchester now sees every day. 

 

Parris attended the awards as a guest of Horizon Construction Group. She was there to watch the project team take to the stage twice in one evening. A huge thank you to Horizon for the invitation, and our warmest congratulations to everyone involved. 

Awards like these are about more than recognition. They put Colchester on the map as a city investing seriously in its creative and digital future, and they show what is possible when local partners, public funding, and a clear vision come together. The Digital Forum has already started welcoming tenants, hosting events, and building a community of businesses ready to grow here. Two trophies in one day feels like a fitting confirmation that we are on the right track. 

The work does not stop here. The Digital Forum will continue to fill with businesses, host events, and act as a focal point for the digital economy across Essex. If you have not yet visited, or you have been quietly thinking about a workspace, you are warmly invited to come and see what all the fuss is about. 

 

To read more about the awards and what the judges had to say, head over to the Gazette. 

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