Eden, a £36 million, 11,000 sq m, 12-storey workspace in New Bailey, Salford, is designed to enhance health, wellbeing and productivity. As the most sustainable office building in Greater Manchester, it features Europe’s largest living wall with 350,000 plants. The building incorporates clear future-proofing design elements, setting a new standard for eco-friendly and innovative workspaces.

Who is on the project? 

ECF

Make

Cundall

Bowmer & Kirkland

ANS Global

Describe the social and environmental context of this project, its neighbourhood and people. What is the purpose of the building? How does this building make an impact in its community?

Eden is a £36mn, 115,000 sq ft 12-storey workspace situated in New Bailey, Salford. This place-changing building has been ambitiously created by ECF to push the envelope in terms of sustainable regeneration and highlight what can be achieved when like-minded partners work together. Designed to be net-zero carbon in operation, Eden embraces the WELL Building Standard principles, and comprises a range of features designed to enhance occupancy health, wellbeing, and productivity. This includes a ground floor cycle store, showers, and drying room to encourage active travel, a yoga/wellness space, a roof terrace, and areas for co-working and collaboration. Eden’s design also includes a living façade – home to 350,000 plants – which removes air pollutants, reduces urban temperatures, and improves biodiversity, while providing biophilic health and wellbeing benefits to occupants. Amongst a whole host of accreditations achieved – including BREEAM outstanding – Eden secured a 5.5-star NABERS ‘Design Reviewed’ Target Rating, making it the first workspace in the UK to achieve this certification. So far, circa 50% of Eden is occupied by accountancy firm BDO and law firm TLT, with both companies choosing the building due to its commitments to sustainability and supporting workforce wellbeing. Eden has quickly become an iconic Salford landmark, and now stands as a ‘greenprint’ for the industry to follow, as well as demonstrating Salford’s commitment to innovation and creativity. It serves as an example of how buildings can work with and for the environment when conceived and constructed with care.

 Is the project innovative or creative in its design or purpose? What does it do well in terms of serving its people? 

Eden was meticulously crafted to provide a sustainable, environmentally-friendly home for businesses conscious of their carbon footprint and the wellbeing of their employees. With its 36,000 sq ft living wall, high efficiency air source heat pumps, 50m² of roof photovoltaics, and integration of recycled materials, it’s been designed to reduce operational carbon at every opportunity, making Eden the most sustainable office building in Greater Manchester. Workers benefit from enhanced fresh air rates 2 litres per second/m2 more than industry best standards, boosting cognitive function, while its cycle storage facilities, workout spaces, contemplation areas and yoga studio allow employees to achieve a better work-life balance. The breakout spaces are perfect for collaboration and connectivity, while on-site café Spice & Grind offers the ideal place for people to catch-up in a relaxed setting. Open to the public – allowing the broader local community to connect with both Eden and its occupiers – Spice & Grind is run by a Salfordian entrepreneur who was approached by ECF to take up a lease in the building, underscoring the transformative power of ECF’s approach to placemaking. Elsewhere, Eden’s iconic living wall has also had a lasting impact on the wider community, with primary school children at St Philips in Salford receiving a mini living wall to brighten up their playground and inspire the next generation of construction professionals. And on a business level, Eden now hosts events which focus on the sustainability agenda, helping to inform, educate and inspire industry peers and share best practice.

Please describe the programme of the building, and how its design serves this use. Please also explain whether the future viability of this use has been considered. How might the building be repurposed to other uses?

Eden was borne out of a desire by the ECF partnership to create the most environmentally-friendly and sustainable office building possible. It was a necessity for Eden to be energy-efficient, net zero and low on embodied carbon, as well promoting wellness and boosting local biodiversity. As a result, Eden engaged Make Architects, sustainability experts Cundall, and living wall specialists Viritopia to develop the ground-breaking workspace that exists today. Through collaboration, planning, and the expertise of those involved, Eden currently stands as the most sustainable office building in Greater Manchester, is net zero carbon in operation, and acts as a ‘greenprint’ for the industry to follow. Eden, however, hasn’t purely been designed for the here and now – it’s been future-proofed, too. With climate change and resilience in mind, a total of 14 climate change impacts have been evaluated as part of Eden’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), which considers the impacts of medium (RCP4.5) and high (RCP8.5) emissions scenarios for temperature, precipitation, flooding and wind. This led to Eden’s drainage systems being designed with a 40% climate change allowance over and above a 1 in 100-year critical storm event. Elsewhere, the mechanical cooling systems have been designed to meet a 2030s High 50% scenario, with space available for a 2050’s high emissions (50%) scenario, while high efficiency water fittings and a rainwater harvesting system have been installed to achieve a water usage of 10l. /person per day.