Legal & General Property’s building at 740 Waterside Drive in Bristol is the first ever building to be certificated under the BREEAM UK Refurbishment and Fit-Out scheme, the newest of the internationally recognised BREEAM standards for rating the sustainability of building projects.

An office building in Bristol’s Aztec West business park, 740 Waterside Drive has been awarded design stage ‘Very Good’ ratings against Parts 2 and 3 of the scheme for the refurbishment and fit-out of its core and local services.

The £5m, 30-week project encompassing 51,000 square feet is undertaking an extensive range of refurbishments and improvements. These include fully replacing the mechanical and electrical systems, installing photovoltaic panels on the roof, enhancing the airtightness of the building and improving its EPC rating. The building has now achieved an EPC A.

The project also involves the replacement of window and curtain walling, a Category A fit-out to floor plates, a new steel-frame reception extension, the reconfiguration of the core to include new toilet facilities, floor, ceiling and wall finishes to the new reception extension, and improvements to the site’s landscaping.

Director of BREEAM, Gavin Dunn, says: “The BREEAM success of 740 Waterside Drive is testament to the commitment of Legal & General and the entire project team to addressing the challenges of improving existing buildings. Our congratulations to the team who have worked together to deliver a building that will not only be more sustainable, but also offers opportunities for making savings on running costs and a highly attractive workplace.”

Debbie Hobbs, head of sustainability at Legal & General Property, said: “Constantly looking to push boundaries on what we can achieve in the sustainability arena, we believe that improving existing assets, where we have the opportunity to do so, is pivotal to reducing the impact that the built environment has on our fragile eco-system.  This can only be achieved by working with forward thinking third parties who demonstrate skills and understanding in this area.”

Frances Pearce, project manager of JLL commented: “Legal & General has a strong commitment to sustainability across its entire asset base. With minimum requirements of EPC B and BREEAM ‘Very Good’ on all construction projects, the design team had clear direction from inception of the project.” 

She continued: “We worked closely with BRE Global to apply the new Refurbishment & Fit-Out standards to the project and believe this is a valuable tool now in the market place, particularly given the building refurbishments likely in the run up to 2018”. In the UK the Energy Act 2011 will make it unlawful to lease a property from 2018 below a minimum energy rating of “E”.

The 740 Waterside Drive project team is: Legal & General UK Property Fund (client); JLL (project manager); Stride Treglown (architect); Hoare Lea (M&E consultant); Sweett Group (QS); Midas Construction (contractor); Sustainable Construction Services (BREEAM assessor); Knight Frank & JLL (joint agents).