UK green energy company Ecotricity is set for rapid expansion following planning permission for it to build an £8 million eco-headquarters in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Ecotricity, which currently employs 170 people, says the new headquarters will house 300 employees, and will be in addition to its existing offices in Stroud. It will replace
Tricorn House, a former DSS office
building that has stood empty at the entrance of the town for more than a decade.
Ecotricity wants to turn the derelict site into a new building that will include a host of environmentally friendly features. The company is even planning to build a wind turbine to help power it and is considering running a shuttle bus boat service along the Cotswold canal to help people
travel to work emitting minimal carbon.
"Our new HQ will be an inspirational green place, to look at and to work in," said Ecotricity founder and managing director Dale Vince, who hopes it will also help transform Stroud into a 'green Silicon Valley’.
"Planning consent for our plans is an important step, bringing us closer to turning this eyesore into an icon and, we hope, a beacon to attract other like-minded organisation to make Stroud the UK’s green hotspot," he said.
Local architects David Austin Associates will lead the project, which is expected to take around two years to build. The development will include a wide range of environmental features, including rainwater harvesting, induced convection ventilation, passive and active solar heating and 'living walls’.
Green travel options could include shuttle boat service
Green travel plans are central to the development; the site is close to the town centre, on the major bus routes, and falls within the town’s cycle network. It is also next to the Cotswold canal, which Ecotricity is considering running a shuttle boat service on.
"Our vision is for a living, breathing building that practically powers itself," said Vince. "Virtually all of the heating, cooling and lighting will come from natural sources around us, and any more will be provided by what we know works best – a dedicated windmill hopefully nearby to the town."
To begin work, Ecotricity still needs to apply for a Compulsory Purchase Order of the existing building from its current owners, but this is expected to be made easier following the planning permission.
The new headquarters will be in addition to Ecotricity’s current buildings in Stroud at Imperial House, Axiom House and a new site in Russell Street.
Ecotricity supplies renewable energy to 40,000 home and business customers.
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Related links:
www.ecotricity.co.uk