Bradford site for straw bale build

THE largest straw bale community development in Europe is to be built in Bradford.

The new £4m Enterprise Centre is being built on behalf of the Newlands Community Association which is being advised by the building consultancy team at CB Richard Ellis in Leeds.

Nick Twigg, associate director of building consultancy at CBRE, said: “The Enterprise Centre is an incredibly exciting project and is intended to set the benchmark for sustainable community development in Europe.

“In addition to the straw bale construction, key features of the BREEAM ‘excellent’-rated development will be ground source heat pumps, a canopy constructed from photovoltaic cells, recycled carpet floor coverings and gluelam beams to name a few.

“The project represents a major investment into an area of Bradford which is prime for regeneration and the result will be a fantastic new centre for the community to benefit from and also an exemplar ‘green’ development.”

The Association had initially asked CBRE for advice on refurbishing its existing facility based in a 1950s building but it was found to be more cost-effective to develop a new centre on a 3.5 acre site in Eccleshill.

The European Regional Development Fund, Communitybuilders and Bradford Council are funding the scheme in addition to a £1m mortgage from Charity Bank.

Tony Holdich, Business Manager for Newlands Community Association, continues; “When we were advised by CBRE that our existing facility was unfit for use we wanted to really push the boundaries of design and build to create a centre of Excellence.

“Bradford is a truly transformational city and it is projects such as this that will ensure it achieves its long-term regeneration goals. We are delighted to have secured the funding to facilitate this groundbreaking development and are looking forward to seeing work progress on the new facility.”

The finished building will be 15,000 sq ft of space split into 14 workspaces spread over two floors.