Drew: ‘It’s been around 11 years since I first got involved with this project. At the time, we had some business developments around the airport that we were looking to relocate to one central location. We found a suitable site where we could not only house the current businesses, but that also provided the opportunity for something extra. At the entrance of the business park, we wanted to do a landmark building. We called it the Launchpad, and it’s effectively an innovation hub where multiple organisations, start-ups and creative minds can hire a space and develop their businesses.’

‘Sustainability has always been one of my great passions. If this building was to be a landmark building for innovation, then it had to be an environmentally sound building. So, the first thing is that we mandated there would be no gas at the site at all. The building is completely electric and partly runs on the energy generated by the rooftop PV cells. The other thing we insisted on was water management. The site has natural drainage through permeable asphalt on the parking lot. A meadow with a pond attenuates the water run off so that it doesn’t increase the load on the river during heavy rainfall.’

Anna: ‘Our Nature Smart Cities pilot, is unique in that it has supported the provision of Green Infrastructure to a new development. In this case the Launchpad Innovation Centre. The other pilots focus on regenerating or retrofitting a site, whereas we wanted to build something new on a site that was already green. With the Business Model, we can demonstrate that we’re delivering key ecosystem services, such as stormwater attenuation and biodiversity. We show that if development must happen on a green site, it can happen positively.’

In fact, the Launchpad building will receive the highest rating for the BREEAM standard, which is an internationally used method to rate the sustainability of a building. It includes the CO₂ footprint of building materials and transportation during the build, but also looks at other criteria such the food that’s being served in the canteen. Drew: ‘Going for this high standard helped us all to stay focused. If we compromised on the green infrastructure, the highest rating would be out of reach. It was a great argument every time the cost of our green measures was discussed.’

Both Anna and Drew are very proud the building was developed within budget during the pandemic, without compromising on green solutions and sustainability. Building the Launchpad shows how much green infrastructure has to offer.

Anna: ‘I really hope this building acts as an exemplar to other new developments. We have a new environment act in the UK that says all new developments need to ensure a minimum 10% gain in biodiversity.’

Drew: ‘I see a change in attitude, I think that’s most important. The whole team is more aware of the importance of bringing environmental sustainability to the core of a project. It can’t be an afterthought.’