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George Parker Bidder Building, Exeter Science Park

The Exeter Science Park (ESP) George Parker Bidder Building is the latest project in the ESP development. Designed with the vision of stimulating economic growth, this new facility became particularly significant following the COVID-19 pandemic. The project acts as a springboard to drive the economy forward by creating over 100 new jobs and allowing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based businesses to thrive.

Key Stats

  • 3 storey steel frame building
  • BREEAM “Excellent” & BGC Net zero carbon – operational efficiency standard met (rooftop PV installation)
  • Flexible floor layout - each floor plate was subdivided into 4 M&E zones and fire compartments per floor
  • Client Satisfaction 9/10
  • Cat A+ fit-out to include carpeting, acoustic panels, meeting rooms
  • Live science park site with adjacent tenants

At a Glance

Client

Exeter Science Park Ltd

Budget

£3.9m

Completion

December 2021

Location

Exeter

Framework

Southern Construction Framework (SCF)

Sector

Commercial, Research

Social value

£3.1m

Sustainability

Net Zero Carbon

Introduction

The George Parker Bidder Building is a 14,000sqft facility which has three floors including bespoke laboratories and office accommodations. The building accommodates up to 11 firms and acts as a steppingstone for many maturing businesses at the Science Parks’ Centre Incubation Space. The aim is that the businesses will vacate those spaces, ‘grow out’ into the new George Parker Bidder facility and will support economic growth.

The project utilised a vertical circulation core stair tower, with the internal layout configured to be adaptable to meet future tenant requirements and multiple occupancy. This was considered with the intention of satisfying a wide and flexible range of tenant spatial requirements.

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Carbon Neutral Facility

Sustainability and climate change was a fundamental objective for this new facility. There were a number of key considerations made to ensure this project would achieve Net Zero Carbon. A “Fabric First” strategy was implemented which included having highly insulated walls, roofs, and floors. The project also exceeded air permeability tests, demonstrating high levels of air tightness, achieving 3m3/h.m2k.

The architectural design of the building was also energy efficient by featuring a Brise Soleil façade. Brise Soleil, reduces heat gain in the building by deflecting the sunlight away which negates the need for comfort cooling. There are also metal panels on the front elevation that incorporate louvered elements, which form part of the natural ventilation.

The project achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating which required a number of provisions to be satisfied. Such requirements included, amending the foundation design from ground-bearing (which would have required significant cut and fill) to a suspended slab solution. This meant that the existing filled ground could be left insitu. Our team also retained excavated arisings on site for as long as possible and removed the need for a secondary framing system as these were prone to offcuts and wastage.

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Overcoming the challenges

Funding for the project was secured in August 2020 from the Government’s ‘Getting Building Fund’. The funding was made available for shovel ready projects, which again, would drive economic growth and job creation. However, the cost and time windows were extremely tight and required the completion of the project by the end of 2021. As our team was formally appointed as Design and Build contractors in November 2021, it left us less than 16 months to: take and develop the RIBA stage 2 design, price the project, agree the price and contract, and deliver the scheme.

Despite being presented with the conundrum of completing the project with a tight programme, the George Parker Bidder Building was erected on time and on budget and is the fastest turnaround of any scheme undertaken at the Exeter Science Park. The project achieved practical completion just 16 months after funding was secured. This equated to saving up to 33% of the time involved compared to a conventional build programme.

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Social impact

The project has made a telling difference with £3.1m reinvested back into the community as well as delivering on its carbon reduction targets such as diverting 100% of waste to landfill.

A party of students from Stansfield Academy in Sowton, which is a skills speciality college, were given site tours and a presentation all about the project. This was completed via Teams due to being compliant with the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Local shops were used by the site team regularly and the local café provided catering for the key milestone and open door events on site. The team also supported neighbouring businesses which included some goodwill works for our neighbour, trialling a personal proximity sensor.

The project team were successful in the Constructing Excellence South West Awards (CESW) and won an award in the category of Integration and Collaborative working.

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The project team won the award of Integration and Collaborative Working at the CESW Awards

This project has been turned around in a very very rapid timescale. This is 24-month process delivered in 16 months. Thank you to Morgan Sindall who worked at risk before the SCF process had completed. That was an excellent bit of work. Without that risk taking, we wouldn’t be where we are. We’ve had an excellent degree of collaboration, a totally new way of working, taking design from RIBA 2. Thanks to Nevil Friggens (MS Design Manager) who has been leading the design work and Rob Buckler (MS Site Manager) who have been incredibly quick onto site. This has been an extraordinary performance.” -

Sally Basker, Chief Executive, Exeter Science Park.

Gallery

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