To be known as NRP (Norwich Research Park) Enterprise Centre, the building has been designed by the global architectural practice BDP and has recently received go-ahead from Norwich councillors.
It is being constructed as a ‘carbon sink’ through maximising the use of local materials and construction. Timber will come from the Thetford Forest while straw for the innovative prefabricated thatch panels will come from Norfolk. Various other building materials such as rammed chalk, heather and flint will be locally sourced and fabricated. The project will also utilise PV integrated roofs and a solar thermal installation to minimise operational carbon emissions.
Half of the building will provide lettable floor space for SME start up businesses including offices, meeting rooms and hot desks, with the rest housing teaching and learning facilities for the University.
Working with UK-based Passivhaus architects Architype, the building will become the UK’s first commercial building to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating, and be Passivhaus-certified.
The centre is scheduled to open in January 2015. This landmark project is part-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, the largest single ERDF project in the region in the 2007-2015 funding round, in addition to funding from UEA, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and BRE.
