Steelwork complete for Outstanding Bristol office development

Located at 111 Victoria Street in Bristol, steelwork has recently completed on the 18,500m² EQ building, which is said to be the city’s first new-build commercial development to commit to being carbon net-zero in operation.

Supporting the city council’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2030, it is also targeting a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating.

Working on behalf of main contractor BAM Construction, Severfield has fabricated, supplied and erected 1,950t of steelwork for the project.

According to BAM’s Construction Manager Andy Syddall, the building will raise the bar in terms of quality, occupant wellbeing and sustainability. “EQ has been designed to be more than just a workplace and maximises productivity and wellbeing through the provision of a variety of different work and social spaces.

“These include a bar/restaurant and business lounge with communal terrace on the seventh floor, a ground floor café kitchen, a 50-seat auditorium adjacent to our internal living wall and a fitness suite.”

EQ will have a dedicated bicycle entrance and ramp providing access to more than 260 cycle spaces in the basement. The subterranean level will also accommodate car parking, accessed via a car lift. Adding further superlatives to the project, both the bicycle entrance and ramp, and the car lift are said to be firsts for Bristol.

The nine-storey building is based around a 6m perimeter column grid pattern, with minimal internal columns and clear spans of up to 12m.

The beams are all cellular members, with bespoke holes to accommodate the building’s services within their depth. The beams will be concealed by a ceiling, but their supporting columns will all be left exposed within the completed project.

Adding some aesthetic quality to the scheme, the exposed columns are all being painted tomato red. They will be visible from the outside through the building’s extensive glazing, which is a primary feature on all of its elevations.