HISCOX'S new £19 million York office development is "rapidly taking shape" as the building's weave effect brickwork goes up.

Insurance provider Hiscox is part way through creating its new flagship office in the city, in a move which will see 500 jobs brought to York.

Due to be completed by October this year, the four-storey offices being built in Hungate have been designed by architect Ken Shuttleworth, of MAKE, who has worked on London’s Millennium Bridge, The Gherkin and City Hall.

Work on the 50,000 sq ft offices got underway in October last year, and is now centred around the installation of specially designed brick panels for the southern facing exterior.

Inspired by the history of the site and its existing surroundings, the brick weave envelope is made from pre-fabricated panelling imported from Holland. A total of 225 panels have been shipped over, with 71 different variations, the heaviest of which weighs in at 13 tonnes.

Alan Millard, chief operating office at Hiscox said: "It has always been a striking and unusual design, and now you can start to really get a feel for how the finished building will look.

"One of the most special elements of the building is the woven-effect brickwork, which is now carefully being fitted into place.

"It’s really unique and will be a rare addition to the city’s rich architectural heritage.

"Achieving the woven effect would have been difficult, if not impossible, to achieve by hand. That’s why we are instead using innovative pre-fabricated brick panels.

"These panels are fantastic for achieving the unusual shape and quality that the building requires and we are already really pleased with the results that this technique has allowed us to achieve."

The panels are currently being stacked on top of each other from the ground upwards in a pre-defined sequence.

Mr Millard added: "Fitting the panels is a delicate and painstaking process; the site tower crane or a mobile crane lift the panels into position and an operative in a cherry picker then helps with fine adjustment before the panel is bolted to the concrete frame. Complex stuff and very different to laying bricks by hand.

"We started installing the panels in April and will complete the process next month which will be a really important moment in the building’s development.

"Once the brick panelling is in place, we will be focused on the installation of the atrium glazing and mechanical and electrical installation.

"Getting the glasswork in place will be the next exciting step."