The company behind a prominent office block being built in Newcastle city centre say it will be the ‘smartest’ building in the region when it is completed next year.
One Strawberry Lane, which is being built for housing association Home Group close to Newcastle’s St James’ Park and the famous Strawberry pub, has applied for SmartScore certification to acknowledge the measures it includes for sustainability and connectivity.
Fewer than 100 worldwide have gone through or are going through the SmartScore process, which signifies that new buildings are efficient and fit for future use by measuring 60 individual certification levels.
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The process measures things such as cost efficiencies, user experience and even disease prevention and air quality.
Home Group is taking most of the 70,000 sq ft offices in a move from its current base on the edge of the city, saying it is being specifically designed to operate with new hybrid working models.
Some space within the building is also being made available for commercial let.
Nathalie Baxter, head of workspace at Home Group, said: “Achieving WiredScore and SmartScore certification isn’t about having blingy tech in the building, it’s about tailoring the SMART technology that’s out there to support our own user activities and environmental requirements in order to provide an exceptional experience in the building for our colleagues, tenants and customers.
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“Achieving these accreditations means we know we have produced a building that can be effectively programmed, utilised and monitored to respond to the eb and flow of hybrid working which will support sustainable outcomes both now and in the future.
“For organisations it offers greater collaborative working, increased productivity, along with improved health and well-being for their workforces.
“I hope that when One Strawberry Lane opens next year it will quickly become the exemplar for workspace design, new ways of working and the way forward for a much-improved workforce culture.”
When complete, the building will be home to around 700 Home Group employees, with commercial office space available to let on its first and second floors.
Agents Knight Frank and Cushman and Wakefield have been instructed to market the space.