The Colmore Building, in Birmingham city centre’s main business district, has become the first in the city to be Wired Certified, under the international digital connectivity rating scheme run by WiredScore. The building has achieved the Wired Certified Platinum rating – the highest available – marking its technology infrastructure as amongst the best in the UK.
The Wired Certification provides developers and landlords with a trusted mark, to help them understand what necessary investments are needed to achieve, and enables them to demonstrate, best-in-class connectivity infrastructure.
This independent benchmark also provides greater transparency for occupiers to help them make an informed decision before signing a lease.
The 14-storey building, which is home to tenants including Vodafone, Allianz, Grant Thornton, Investec and Marsh, secured its rating by providing three unique sources of fibre – including dedicated business-grade fibre offerings that can be used for symmetrical speeds of up to 100Gbps depending on tenants’ requirements – as well as a fixed wireless provider. The WiredScore audit also found that The Colmore Building had best-in-class levels of resiliency, with three fully separate intakes and three fully diverse risers, giving occupiers the option of improved protection against any potential disruption.
The Wired Certified Platinum rating sits alongside The Colmore Building’s ‘excellent’ BREEAM environmental and sustainability rating and its broad range of amenities added through a recently completed enhancement programme initiated by AshbyCapital, who purchased the building in summer 2015 on behalf of its group investment company. The £3.5 million programme has seen the addition of a gym, treatment rooms, bicycle parking, luxury changing rooms and a drying room, as well as a refurbished reception area and a new 1,000 sq ft café branded &More Coffee House. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the building’s communal areas.
Peter Ferrari, Chief Executive of AshbyCapital, said:
“Our achievement of the Wired Certified Platinum rating from WiredScore is another example of how we are catering for forward-thinking occupiers and setting new standards in Birmingham. The enhancement programme we recently completed has given the building the city’s most comprehensive package of amenities, responding to businesses’ increasing focus on wellness at work in a bid to attract the best talent. Now, with a WiredScore rating that marks the building out as a pioneer for the city and one of the most technologically advanced office properties in the UK, we are also meeting tenants’ requirements for connected buildings, which are increasingly important given how closely linked the worlds of business and technology have become.”
William Newton, UK Director, WiredScore, said:
“It is fantastic to see AshbyCapital’s commitment to future proofing The Colmore Building, and we are delighted to award the first Wired Certified building in Birmingham with the highest possible rating. The Wired Certified Platinum rating highlights that the recent improvements to this building are not just skin deep: occupiers here can also enjoy the best technology and telecoms infrastructure. Having ranked many of the most iconic buildings in London and after launching in Manchester last week, it is great to be offering our services in Birmingham to enable developers and landlords to demonstrate the connectivity of the second city’s buildings to their tenants and potential occupiers.”
The Colmore Building is able to accommodate lettings of up to 104,000 sq ft across efficient and flexible floor plates of 23,000 sq ft. Agents for The Colmore Building are Bilfinger GVA and JLL.