Refurbishment
The Sanctuary
The Practice was responsible for the design and site monitoring of the related mechanical, electrical and public health services installation.
Colmore Gate is a landmark development in the heart of Birmingham. The existing building consists of 16 floors with two basement floors over a podium and tower section constructed in the mid-1990s.
We have been working with the design team to extend and refurbish the building to provide 23 floors of office accommodation in the tower and 9 floors in the podium section, totalling approx. 315,000ft2 NIA. As part of the refurbishment, the existing VAV air handling system will be removed and replaced with an air source heat pump system with on-floor heat recovery units to provide comfort cooling, heating, and ventilation. Additionally the building will benefit from a building and energy management systems, high-efficiency LED lighting and controls.
The project ethos revolves around a core carbon principle of retaining existing structure and foundations and working within that constraint to provide new and exciting office space.
As the Sustainability Consultant on the project we are targeting BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Core Platinum, ActiveScore Platinum and RESET certified to maximise the scheme’s sustainability credentials. We are also completing a whole life carbon and circular economy assessment to see that we are maximising re-use and aiming to identify further reductions in carbon where possible.
In addition the building is subject to the Design for Performance approach with the aim to achieve a 5 Star NABERS UK rating. The building is projected to deliver an ‘A’ EPC rating.
The building’s planning application was submitted to Birmingham City Council in August 2023, and we provided all the necessary supporting documentation, including the sustainability statement and energy strategy.
We are looking forward to our continued involvement in the project, pending positive planning feedback.
The Practice was responsible for the design and site monitoring of the related mechanical, electrical and public health services installation.
Michael Faraday House IET, Stevenage. A Sustainable Building Refurbishment.
The exposed services strategy implemented at Fortess Grove compliments the industrial nature of the building. Cycling facilities are provided along with showers and lockers at ground floor level accessed directly from the rear of the building along Railey Mews. The development achieved a WiredScore certification of ‘Gold’ and a B rated Energy Performance Certification.
Princes Arcade in St James’s is part of the Grade II listed building within which a major new restaurant unit has been created along with office, core and atrium refurbishment.
All MEP systems within One Hanover Street are being fully replaced, with new services distributed through the upgraded risers to each office floor. The refurbished building will benefit from high-efficiency heat-recovery systems, LED lighting throughout, intelligent lighting controls, a common network system and new fan-coil units among other modern building services upgrades.
The project involved the refurbishment and extension of the existing building to deliver over 260,000sq ft of office space, achieving BREEAM ‘Outstanding’.