Work to start on Britain’s greenest building after planners approve Bruntwood’s Ev0 scheme
Bruntwood has today received planning approval for The Ev0 Building, which it claims will be the UK’s lowest carbon new build workspace and Works are targeted to start on site in autumn 2023 and complete in late 2024.
Based at Didsbury Technology Park in South Manchester, known as the Siemens site, the £31m development features a mass timber frame to capture and store carbon.
The Planning and Highways Committee approved the scheme with little objection, following a late change to the application to satisfy concerns over bollards in neighbouring streets.
Also approved today (16 February) was the redevelopment of the six-acre Great Northern site on Deansgate by Trilogy real estate.
Also approved were plans for 65 homes to be built by Anwyl Homes in Chorlton.
But there was disappointment for McCarthy and Stone who had an application for a retirement complex in Didsbury rejected, and for McLaren Properties who had a bid to redevelop St Gabriels’s Hall of Residence in Victoria Park turned down.
Lidl’s plans for new supermarket in Chorlton Park were deferred.
Ev0 will be a fully electric development, with up to 94% of its energy requirement generated through solar panels on the building’s roof and car park, acting as a series of mini power plants. All energy required by the development will either be generated on site or supplied by Bruntwood’s co-operative wind farm.
Ev0 will also feature a gym, cafe, customer lounge, cycle storage and event space.
But office agents feel confident there will be stromg interest in 82,549 sq ft of workspace over six floors which sits between Sir William Siemens House, Spire Hospital and Bruntwood Works’ Ohm Building at Didsbury Technology Park in Greater Manchester.
Andrew Butterworth, commercial director at Bruntwood, said: “Ev0 will support businesses using the workspace to meet their own net zero goals and serve as a blueprint for future development. We’re looking forward to getting underway and creating this new sustainably-minded community.”
Bruntwood sees Ev0 as a landmark development for Manchester, supporting the city in its 2038 target for carbon neutrality and helping to cement the city’s reputation as a leader in sustainable development.
Mark Garner, associate director at CBRE, one of the agents for the site, said: “This planning approval represents a big step forward for sustainable real estate, not only for The Ev0 Building but the wider regional market. We’re receiving more and more requirements from occupiers looking to secure the most environmentally friendly workspace and Ev0 will more than cater for these. We can’t wait to see the timber frame go up, which is due to be the first of its kind in the region.”
The project was taken through the planning process by architect Sheppard Robson, MEP, structural and sustainability consultants Ramboll, planning consultants Deloitte Real Estate, fire and risk engineers OFR Consultants, quantity surveyor Turner & Townsend and project management specialists Ward Williams Associates (WWA).
