Willmott Dixon’s track record for building ultra energy efficient property has seen it awarded the £17.5m contract to construct Bristol’s first commercial office space to be BREEAM 2014 Outstanding.

It’s the latest low carbon milestone for the company that recently completed the UK’s largest non-residential Passivhaus facility, University of Leicester’s Centre for Medicine, and the BREEAM Excellent One Central Square, a grade A 135,000 square foot office development in Cardiff. The company is also working on a facility in Exeter targeting BREEAM Outstanding, a new home for the Met Office’s supercomputer.

Now Cubex has opted for Willmott Dixon’s BREEAM expertise by appointing the company to deliver the BREEAM Outstanding Aurora Office Development at its Finzels Reach development, a £250m mixed-use regeneration scheme in central Bristol close to Temple Meads railway station and Cabot Circus shopping centre. Aurora will provide 95,000 square foot of Grade A office space at a prime location on the Floating Harbour.

Gavin Bridge, Director, Cubex Land:

“I’m delighted that with our solid financial backing we are pressing ahead with this speculative development encouraged by the fact that Bristol has a shortage of Grade A office space which has already resulted in rental growth. Aurora will be the first new development to be completed in a number of years and will deliver the very best office space Bristol has to offer in a vibrant, mixed-used location.”

Neal Stephens, managing director of Willmott Dixon in Bristol:

“With a local office in Bristol, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to build such an important office for the city’s economy, one that will attract new investment and set the standard for BREEAM Outstanding in a city that was 2015’s European Green Capital. We will work hard to ensure this project benefits the Bristol economy, partnering with local companies and sustaining jobs for local people.”

Willmott Dixon is working with a Bristol design team, including architects The Bush Consultancy, Dickson Powell Partnership as quantity surveyors and project managers plus Hydrock Consultants, structural and building performance engineers.

The seven storey Aurora building includes a stunning glass atrium, basement car and bicycle parking and a link to the Grade II listed Generator Building, adjacent. The building will complete to shell, core and CAT A stage by the end of 2017 and further illustrates Willmott Dixon’s track-record of delivering city centre projects working on restricted, brownfield sites.

Willmott Dixon’s expertise for energy efficient, low carbon properties is seeing the company currently work with the Low Carbon Workplace to deliver a series of low energy offices in London. Also, its Interiors company achieved a BREEAM milestone when it delivered the first non-domestic refurbishment and fit-out to achieve the 2014 BREEAM Excellent rating.

More locally, Keynsham Civic Centre has one of the best energy efficiency records for a civic building, being EPC A rated and it achieved the title of ‘Best of the Best’ at the 2015 British Council of Offices awards.