Eden secures national ESG award

Eden has been recognised at the national British Council for Offices (BCO) awards for its pioneering ESG credentials.

The £36m, 115,000 sq ft 12-storey workspace, situated in Salford, won BCO’s national ESG award for its industry-leading approach to sustainability and community.

Ambitiously created by ECF – a strategic regeneration partnership between Muse, L&G, and Homes England – to push the envelope in terms of sustainable regeneration, the award is testament to partners’ ambitions to create an iconic workplace that would make national headlines for its environmentally-considerate credentials.

Designed to be net-zero carbon in operation, Eden embraces the WELL Building Standard principles and comprises a range of features designed to enhance occupancy health, wellbeing, and productivity.

This includes a ground floor cycle store, showers, and drying room to encourage active travel, a yoga/wellness space, a roof terrace, and areas for co-working and collaboration.

Eden’s design also includes a living façade – home to 350,000 plants – which removes air pollutants, reduces urban temperatures, and improves biodiversity, while providing biophilic health and wellbeing benefits to occupants.

Amongst a whole host of accreditations achieved – including BREEAM outstanding – Eden secured a 5.5-star NABERS ‘Design Reviewed’ Target Rating, making it the first workspace in the UK to achieve this certification.

Elsewhere, Eden features high efficiency air source heat pumps, 50m² of roof photovoltaics, and the integration of recycled materials to reduce operational carbon wherever possible.

All of these elements combine to make Eden the most sustainable office building in Greater Manchester.

But Eden isn’t just about technical details. As recognised by the judges of the BCO awards, the building placed an emphasis on interacting with the Salford community from its inception – a prime example being on-site café, Spice & Grind.

Open to the public – allowing the broader local community to connect with both Eden and its occupiers – Spice & Grind is run by a Salfordian entrepreneur who was approached by ECF to take up a lease in the building, underscoring the transformative power of ECF’s approach to placemaking.

And in the heart of Salford, Eden’s iconic living wall has also had a lasting impact on the wider community, with primary school children at St Philips in Salford receiving a mini living wall to brighten up their playground and inspire the next generation of construction professionals.

How partners successfully combined the delivery of sustainable features with a stringent focus on community cohesion and the wellbeing of occupants impressed the judges, who commented:

Reflecting on the award win, development director, Laura Percy, said: “It is humbling to see Eden continuing to receive industry accolades and this recognition is another clear demonstration of the building’s innovative and ground-breaking design. Thank you to all our partners who worked with us to deliver the iconic workplace that is Eden.”