Welcome Building®, the new 207,000 sq ft workspace in Bristol, has achieved a SmartScore Gold Rating, one of only two in Bristol to do so. Delivered in a joint venture between EPISO 5, a fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners, and Trammell Crow Company (TCC), the project meets the highest credentials in connectivity and technology, supporting outstanding functionality and an exceptional occupier experience.
With only 11 SmartScore Gold buildings in the UK, the certification makes Welcome Building® not only one of the best-in-class smart buildings in the city but also in the country. This enhances user experience and delivers cost efficiencies, resilience and high standards of sustainability. Occupiers will also benefit from a Building App, which implements the Equiem platform, a WiredScore Accredited Solution that offers modularity to meet specific occupier needs. Building users will be able to seamlessly enter and navigate their way around the building as well as make in app purchases and book services, workspaces or events space.
Welcome Building® is also only one of nine to have achieved WiredScore Platinum, which adds to its credentials, offering strong digital connectivity and the ability to adapt to future-ready technologies.
Toby Pentecost, Senior Vice President and head of UK offices at TCC commented: “Today’s workplaces need to be smarter, and we are setting the bar for Bristol. Earning both SmartScore Gold and WiredScore Platinum certification sets the Welcome Building® apart in the city’s leasing market. It makes our workspace more resilient with enhanced connectivity and smart features that improve the experience and wellbeing of occupants and visitors and enables the building to operate more sustainably now and in the future. Today’s occupiers are more discerning and demand more from their premises. We are responding to their ESG standards and requirements and delivering what they need.”
Tom Vaughan-Fowler, Regional Director UK & Middle East, said:
“Achieving both SmartScore Gold and WiredScore Platinum is testament to the digital-first strategy our clients have put in place. By putting technology at its heart, they have created a space at the Welcome Building® which is adaptable and responsive to the requirements of its users.”
Welcome Building®, designed by Darling Associates is a landmark development providing high-quality, ESG focused workspace in an exceptional location with great amenities and connectivity. The floorplates are the largest available in the city and range from 22,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft, all reconfigurable to suit different requirements and the changing patterns of working life.
A key focus has been creating an inclusive, collaborative community in a vibrant hub that draws both the occupiers from around the building and the local business community. A distinctive element of the building is a unique ‘street’ on the ground floor, a huge lobby area with an open café bar, breakout seating areas, touch-down workspace, events space and artwork by Dorcas Casey.
The building has already attracted world class occupiers including international law firm DAC Beachcroft. One of the largest legal sector employers in the South West with over 800 lawyers and staff working in the region, it will be moving its Bristol colleagues to 44,196 sq ft across levels six and seven at Welcome Building® next year.
In terms of sustainability, the building is all-electric, with PV cells on the roof and Net Zero Carbon in operation. It sets new standards for occupier wellbeing as the first Bristol office development to target Well Platinum Certification, alongside BREEAM Outstanding and Five at Heart Platinum, with consideration given to everything from biodiversity to the enhanced end of trip facilities for cyclists, runners, and in-house gym users. It is also connected to the Bristol Heat Network, from which it will extract all of its heat load. This naturally sourced and low carbon heat is procured from the zero-carbon water source heat pump at Castle Park energy centre resulting in no polluting combustion.
Knight Frank and Alder King are leasing agents for Welcome Building.