The Perch Eco Business Centre in Bicester has become the first non-domestic building in the UK to achieve the new Passivhaus Plus standard, confirming its position as one of the country's most efficient office buildings.

The new coworking and serviced office space in North West Bicester is part of the Elmsbrook Eco Town project, which is being developed by A2Dominion and aims to deliver a "showcase of eco-development, providing homes, jobs and a greener environment for residents"

The business centre has been developed by Cherwell District Council with support from European Regional Development Funding and was designed by Architype to meet both the Passivhaus Plus energy efficiency standard and the wider BREAAM Excellent rating.

The three storey building features a host of sustainable building materials and clean tech innovations, which are designed to result in ultra-low running costs and emissions for the 125 person capacity office.

Councillor Lynn Pratt, Cherwell's lead member for Estates and the Economy, said the project underlined the council's commitment to "investing in new projects that have a strong social, economic and environmental impact".

"This building has been carefully designed to maximise natural resources, provide a healthy environment and be as energy efficient as possible, presenting new opportunities for small businesses," she added.

The council is currently procuring an operator for the building and once they are in place, they will formally take over the operation of the building. 

In related news, housebuilder Redrow announced it has achieved BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment certification for the redevelopment of Blake Tower at the iconic Barbican in central London.

The refurbishment of the 17-storey tower into 74 sustainable homes achieved a Very Good rating at post-refurbishment stage of the assessment, the company said.

The Barbican development is a Grade II listed building and as such Redrow had to retain the existing external structure of the former YMCA hostel while upgrading the internal specifications to enhance acoustic levels, thermal performance, and water efficiency.

The final Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) score achieved was an improvement of 17 per cent, the company said, while the installation of water efficient fittings resulted in a predicted use of 118 litres per person, per day, which is significantly below the average use of 142 litres.

"The re-use of an existing building is always inherently more sustainable than a new construction," said Gwyn Roberts, Homes and Communities Lead at BRE, the consultancy and standards body that manages the BREAAM standard. "Added to that Redrow's sensitive refurbishment of the architecturally significant Blake Tower demonstrates how enhanced sustainability attributes are achievable for the benefit of the residents."