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The green roofing will attract a wide variety of birds and insects
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The mixed-use development, with office and retail space and eighteen residential apartments, has a focus on sustainability, which determined the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the building, not forgetting the future maintenance requirements. The project also had to take into account the need to retain and upgrade the listed exterior and some elements of the interior.
The green roofs have been planted with a variety of native plants creating a diverse environment to encourage foraging and overwintering for a range of insects and birds. The habitat is suitable for the black redstart, which is one of Britain’s rarest breeding birds, with fewer nesting pairs than the osprey or golden eagle. Boxes for sparrows, swifts, house martins and bats have also been installed on the roofs to provide nesting and roosting habitats.
Both buildings gained an Excellent BREEAM rating and scored above the required 70% to achieve this. In addition to the green roofing, the project's sustainable features include: an air-conditioning system and façade developed to allow mixed-mode ventilation; roof-mounted photovoltaic cells; solar hot water panels; efficient lighting and ample provision for cyclists.
The development has been undertaken by Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP). Darryl Tidd, SWIP's investment director, said: “Our aim from the outset was to develop these building as leaders in sustainability and we are delighted with the ratings they have achieved. The green roofs are also a unique feature in this part of town and we are Iooking forward to watching the space develop and attract increasing numbers of wildlife. Outwith the obvious benefit of providing biodiverse habitats, green roofs also make commercial sense – they have a longer life span, need less maintenance and initial capital outlays can be offset through energy savings.”
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