Joint venture partners Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) and HBD, part of Henry Boot joined main contractor and Bowmer + Kirkland on the 9th floor of Island on John Dalton Street in Manchester city centre, for a topping out ceremony to mark reaching the highest point of construction of what will be one of Manchester’s most sustainable office schemes.
Designed by Cartwright Pickard, work on the 100,000 sq. ft net zero carbon, smart-enabled office started in March 2022 and is on schedule to be completed in late summer. Island is being built on a speculative basis and is available as single or multiple floors of 10,000 sq. ft.
The scheme is targeting to be EPC A rated, achieve Nabers 5.5 stars, and be BREEAM Excellent, and is set to become one of the first net zero carbon in operation commercial office in Manchester. Island will incorporate resilient technology infrastructure to support occupiers ESG objectives and its energy consumption will be 46% lower than the 2020 Real Estate Environmental Benchmark.
Island has been designed with smart technology throughout, targets for both operational and embodied carbon, real time energy consumption data screens, energy efficient ventilation systems incorporating a traffic light system allowing the option of natural ventilation to drive down energy consumption. Enhanced insulation is being installed at twice the level required by Building Regulations and rooftop solar PVs are also being installed.
Island is located on John Dalton Street in Manchester’s prime core, close to major transport hubs, new areas of public realm and arts, culture, retail, and leisure destinations.
The JV team was joined at the event by invited guests and the wider project team to celebrate reaching the development milestone. Speaking on behalf of the joint venture partnership, Adam Brady, Executive Director at HBD, commented: “With the highest point now reached and the external façade being installed, we can start to see Island become a reality and appreciate first-hand how the scheme will sit very comfortably within its surroundings.
Every element of Island, from the structure to the internal operations, has been carefully thought through to provide occupiers with a highly intelligent building which will support their business and their ESG criteria for many years to come.”
