An iCon for a sustainable future
August 17, 2009
Work has started on the building of iCon - a Daventry-based national centre of excellence for sustainable construction, which is funded by the East Midlands Development Association (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The mixed-use building will contain a business incubation unit, a hall for up to 300 people, a public piazza and a cafe/restaurant, and it has been designed to achieve an "excellent" rating from BREEAM - a worldwide environmental assessment method. Work on site is to begin immediately and iCon will be operational by the end of next year.
The charitable organisation set up to manage the running of iCon, ICON (EM), followed European rules for public procurement to select the contractor best able to meet its needs. Five bidding contractors were reviewed against 10 areas of evaluation and Northampton based Winvic Build won the contract, scoring highly in all fields.
iCon will also be the physical focus, or innovation Hub (iHub), of emda's Sustainable Construction innovation Network (iNet). The iNet is already operational and managed by a consortium led by The University of Northampton. It seeks to encourage and support innovative businesses working with green technologies and sustainable construction techniques.
As well as backing the innovative, green businesses it will soon accommodate, iCon is a leading example of energy efficiency and sustainability in its own right.
David Wallace, International and Innovation Director at emda, said that the building would be a tremendous asset for the construction industry in the East Midlands.
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