by Brianna Crandall — January 11, 2013—The newly completed 500,000 sq. ft. One Angel Square office building, currently the largest commercial building in Manchester, England, has also just been awarded the highest score in the United Kingdom under the BREEAM environmental assessment system. Scoring a record 95.32 percent, the BREEAM “Outstanding”-rated building was designed to be one of the most sustainable buildings in Europe.
Nicknamed the “Sliced Egg” because of its distinctive shape, the 238 ft. tall building will be the new headquarters for the United Kingdom’s largest mutual retailer, The Co-Operative Group. It will house the group’s 3,500 employees, who are currently spread across eight separate buildings.
The £100 million low-energy building was designed by 3DReid using the latest BIM software and techniques, with innovative engineering by Buro Happold, to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent and carbon emissions by 80 percent compared to The Co-operative Group’s current Manchester complex. These reductions are expected to lower operating costs by up to 30 percent.
One Angel Square is of steel and concrete frame construction with concrete topping floor slabs and a double-skin glazed façade. Concrete earth tubes underground provide some free heating and cooling for the incoming fresh air. Some 300,000 sq. ft. of exposed concrete acts as a thermal sponge, passively soaking up heat and reducing cooling energy needed.
A total of 327,643 sq. ft. of prime open-plan office space is divided into office floors ranging up to around 29,000 sq. ft. each, with no columns, enabling maximum occupational efficiency and flexibility. A full-height atrium provides excellent natural light throughout and helps extract stale air out of the building. Winter gardens on floors 2-11 provide spaces for employees to take breaks, and enhance the working environment, while a restaurant on the 8th floor offers panoramic views of the city.
