Morgan Sindall Construction has celebrated the latest stage of its work helping Liverpool City Council realise its vision of making the city’s Knowledge Quarter one of the UK’s leading innovation districts.
Following the contractor’s completion of its work on The Spine earlier this summer, Morgan Sindall Construction has now handed over a new multi-storey car park (MSCP) with a combined heat and power (CHP) energy centre, located on the Elm Grove site within Paddington Village Central
The 12-storey car park, valued at £12m and designed by Liverpool architects KKA, has a capacity of 1,249, comprising a combination of standard and accessible bays, as well as 12 electric vehicle recharging bays with capacity to increase this number to 130 in the future.
The building also offers parking for cycles and motorcycles and a Facilities Manager’s office has also been incorporated, offering active frontage to the building on Smithdown Road.
The cladding design for the new build is an abstract representation of the nearby Williamson’s Tunnels, a fascinating underground network of tunnels created by Joseph Williamson in the early 19th Century.
The size and accommodation requirements of the energy centre were refined by specialist consultants Vital Energi.
The CHP energy centre will deliver a sustainable power and heating source for Paddington Village, with district heating regarded as the lowest carbon footprint of all fossil fuel burning energy systems.
Morgan Sindall Construction’s commitment to sustainability was evidenced during the construction process, which saw excavation methodology deployed to enable the re-use of as-dug materials. This entailed huge lumps of sandstone rock being crushed on site by tracked machines, material tested by a geotechnical specialist and classified for re-use, saving approximately 1000 tonnes of waste.
The MSCP is yet another
wonderful moment for our team
in bringing Paddington Village
and the Knowledge Quarter to life.
During the foundation stage, two bases were excavated and used as blinding for the second foundation of the carpark while drainage was delivered to site in re-useable timber crates eliminating plastic banding, single use plastics and timber skids.
Richard Potts, Morgan Sindall Construction’s area director for Liverpool said: “The handing over of the MSCP and energy centre is yet another wonderful moment for our team as we work with Liverpool City Council in bringing Paddington Village and the Knowledge Quarter to life.
“The facility’s design perfectly complements the stunning buildings elsewhere on the site, while the energy centre will be vital in ensuring Paddington Village is heated in a responsible way. As demonstrated during the construction process, our team is always looking for ways we can bring added value in terms of sustainability, and we’re very proud to have delivered this building while using such methods.”
Kasia Borkowska, director, KKA said: “It’s been a real privilege for KKA to contribute to Paddington Village through our role on this new car park and energy centre. By incorporating the Williamson’s Tunnels into our work,
we have ensured that the facility will reflect the area’s proud history while also helping to make Paddington Village and the wider Knowledge Quarter a new jewel in the crown for Liverpool.”
At 30 acres, Paddington Village, which was once the site of a now relocated secondary school, is being developed by Liverpool City Council in three phases: Paddington Central, Paddington South and Paddington North. The £1 billion expansion site lies east of the city centre which, when complete, will be a key part of one of the UK’s leading innovation districts – incorporating new science, technology, education and health space.
The Spine, which was handed over by Morgan Sindall Construction in May, is already one of the healthiest workspaces for mental health and physical wellbeing in the UK. It is currently in the process of aiming to be among the world’s first to achieve the International Platinum WELL standard of modern building design.
Costing £35m to construct, it is the first Grade-A office building in the Liverpool City Region for more than a decade.
Morgan Sindall Construction is also delivering Paddington Village’s new Novotel, with work set to complete in the first half of 2022.