An innovative Morrisons store in West Yorkshire is the second owned by the retailer in two years to achieve a tough environmental rating, marking it out as a leader in sustainable retail design.
In 2008, its Kidderminster store was the first retail development in the UK to be awarded the prestigious BREEAM Retail 2006 Excellent rating. This year, its Illingworth store in Halifax has achieved the same exceptional rating.
Forming part of a regeneration scheme, the new supermarket brings improved facilities to the local community with a café, toilets, petrol filling station and substantially larger retail offering than the existing supermarket on the site.
Both BREEAM Excellent rated developments were designed by Yorkshire Architects Practice of the Year, Bowman Riley Architects, and the Leeds office of AECOM, the award winning engineering consultancy, which acted as BREEAM assessor.
To achieve its Excellent rating, the development obtained an overall rating of 70.35%. The development performed well in all BREEAM categories, demonstrating an all round, holistic approach to sustainability.
Commenting on the award, Stephen Haestier, project architect, said: “One of the most innovative aspects of the scheme design was the use of an Energi Panel Solar Air Heating Cladding System on the south façade of the building. It is the first time we have used this system on a Morrisons store.
“It works by pre heating the air before it is brought into the building, which is a simple, yet effective way of reducing the CO2 used in running the building by up to 8 tonnes a year.”