Dowlas UK Limited has today submitted plans to North Somerset Council for a new office for Knightstone Housing Association, one of the largest independent providers of affordable housing in the South West.
The new state-of-the-art building will be located on the Weston Gateway Business Park in Worle just off the A370 and close to junction 21 of the M5 motorway.
The 15-acre site is just five-minutes walk from Worle Parkway mainline train station and will have easy links to cycle routes into Weston-super-Mare.
The site will provide spacious new facilities for Knightstone’s growing business. Housing 230 permanent staff, there will also be 40 additional spaces for mobile workers.
Comprising 40,000 square feet of net office space, the new office will be built over three floors with Knightstone occupying two floors by Spring 2013.
Plans for the new office follows an announcement earlier in the year which outlined how the housing association will focus its services in a more concentrated geographic area covering nine local authorities in the West of England and Somerset.
Chief Executive of Knightstone Housing Association Nick Horne said: “Development of a new single office to replace six of our existing offices is a key part of our plan to refocus our operating area, reshape our services and refresh our ways of working.
“Our priority is giving our residents and customers a great service and this new office will give our staff an environment in which they can do exactly that.
“Moving into a modern building and rationalising our office network will enable us to make cost savings that we can reinvest into existing homes, services and communities and for building new affordable homes in Somerset and the West of England.”
As well as the new office space the building will also include training facilities, meeting rooms and informal spaces. The design will maximise natural light to create a pleasant and healthy working environment.
With a 120 space car park and cycle storage the new office will be fully accessible for disabled visitors and staff.
The building will go beyond the minimum building standards and will achieve a BREEAM rating of very good. To save on energy costs, PV solar energy panels will be placed on the south facing side of the roof. Orientated on an east west axis, south facing windows will be shaded from the summer sun by Brise Soleil aluminium louvers.
A result on the planning application is expected by the end of October. If successful, it is anticipated that construction will start early in the New Year.
Knightstone Housing Association, founded in 1975 has been based in Worle, Weston-super-Mare for the last 20 years.
