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Tue March 19 2024

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Graham gets going on Bruntwood's Enterprise Wharf

6 May 21 Main contractor Graham has begun construction on Birmingham’s first smart-enabled building on the Innovation Birmingham Campus.

The 10 storey building will be embedded with smart technology
The 10 storey building will be embedded with smart technology

Graham has a £30.4m contract to build Enterprise Wharf for Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture between developer Bruntwood and insurance company Legal & General.

The 10 storey, 120,000 sq ft building will be embedded with smart, Internet of Things (IoT) technology, collecting and monitoring data from the building management system, the heating and air conditioning, the lighting and the security cameras. Data from a range of sensors will be displayed in a purpose-built dashboard, allowing air quality, lighting and energy consumption to be controlled.

It will have an A-rated energy performance certificate (EPC) together with 100 sqm of photovoltaic solar power, and a combined air source heat pump and chiller system for efficient heating, heat recovery and cooling. The building’s  facade has also been designed to provide high thermal efficiency, minimising internal artificial lighting requirements.

Bruntwood SciTech managing director David Hardman said: “Birmingham’s first smart-enabled building offers a unique and unrivalled opportunity for tech businesses to benefit from super-fast and reliable connectivity, smart access control and visitor management as well as the ability to control temperature and lighting to reduce CO2 emissions and improve wellbeing and sustainability.”

Part of the Bruntwood SciTech network, the Innovation Birmingham Campus is part of the West Midlands 5G testbed and home to ‘5PRING’, the UK’s first 5G commercial applications accelerator programme which provides offices and demonstration spaces alongside access to 5G technology, allowing businesses to experiment with features that aren’t yet commercially available to test solutions to major problems. 

Planning permission for Enterprise Wharf was granted in April 2020. Piling began in late March.

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The construction is a steel frame with precast concrete plank slabs, lift cores and stairs. Manstall has the building service subcontract.

Graham regional director Ronan Hughes said: “Enterprise Wharf is a unique development for Birmingham’s Knowledge Quarter, and we are looking forward to making the ambitious plans a reality through the implementation of our intelligent construction methodology and programme.

“At Graham, we pride ourselves on being ‘digital by default’, and we will apply our innovative digital construction and BIM Level 2 processes to add value to this smart-enabled building project.”

Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership has invested £5m from its local growth fund to support the development of Enterprise Wharf, in line with its strategic aims to support the region’s digital and innovation sector.

Enterprise Wharf is due to complete in late 2022.

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