The Hive, the business development centre for start-up and growing businesses, located in the Junction 21 Enterprise Area of Weston-super-Mare, will be representing North Somerset in the South West RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Awards 2015 next Thursday (21 May).
The annual awards showcase the achievements of the most inspirational regional initiatives and developments in land, property, construction and the environment. The eight award categories are open to everyone working within the property profession and celebrate the talents of surveyors, property developers, engineers, planners, architects and others.
This year’s South West awards ceremony will take place at the Bristol Marriott Hotel and is to be hosted by BBC presenter Alex Lovell. Organisers have said the standard and volume of entrants has been extremely high this year.
The Hive, which officially opened in July 2014 to deliver the workspace, facilities and support that start-up, small and growing businesses need, all under one roof, has been shortlisted in the Commercial Property awards category. The entry included a written submission which was followed by a visit from the award judges. It will now compete against three other commercial projects in Bristol, Redruth and Devizes.
The Hive is energy-efficient and sustainable and incorporates many energy-saving measures, avoiding air conditioning and including natural ventilation and lighting, photovoltaic cells and solar panels on the roof. It has already achieved a rare “A” rated EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) and A BREEAM pre-assessment indicates that the building is on course to achieve an Excellent rating
The aim, say owners North Somerset Enterprise Agency (NSEA), has always been for The Hive to set an excellent standard with bright, clean, modern space which is good both for its business tenants and the environment. To have this recognised, says NSEA’s Chief Executive Angela Hicks, who spearheaded the design and construction project, is an honour.
“As “non-property” people, setting out to design and build a commercial building like The Hive was more than a little daunting at times! However, to see the impact of the finished centre and our tenants and the local business community enjoying the facilities and then to learn that others in the property sector deem it worthy of recognition makes all the hard work worthwhile.” says Angela.
“We feel privileged to be representing North Somerset in the RICS awards 2015 and whatever the outcome on the evening, feel that we and our business community can all be justifiably proud of our innovative and exciting business centre.”
