Leading volume housebuilder Weston Group has taken further steps as part of their ‘going green’ agenda to update their state-of-the-art 49,000 sq ft headquarters near London’s Stansted Airport with eco-features including solar panels for power, a new fleet of electric company cars and a new parking facility with electric vehicle parking-and-charging bays: part of the brand’s major commitment to sustainability.
To support the energy needs of the headquarters, Weston Group has installed 717 solar panels across the vast roof of the HQ, which will make a substantial contribution (25%) to the electricity generation and usage of the complex.
Weston Group, which employs over 500 people, is also shifting the group’s company car fleet to become fully electric. Now halfway through this changeover, every member of the Group Board and many of the wider business employees are now driving electric vehicles. Once completed, there will be over 150 electric cars in the corporate fleet with electric vehicles from MG, Fiat, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Porshe and Tesla.
To power this electric fleet Weston Group is building an additional 127 new electric vehicle parking bays with electric charging points in the HQ parking facility, which are in addition to the 70 existing electric vehicle parking bays already in place.
Bob Weston, Chairman and CEO of Weston Homes says: “Weston Group is committed to sustainability and the business has been making far reaching changes across the entire company in order to reduce our carbon footprint. We are rolling out eco-friendly construction and specification features across our current and pipeline developments and have now turned our attentions to our headquarters and we will continue to search for further measures that can be taken to contribute to this mission.”
The state-of-the-art headquarters building itself was financed from the HSBC Green Loan scheme (which supports sustainable projects) and the HQ building has a BREEAM rating of VERY GOOD. Providing Grade A office space, the headquarters has an on-site brasserie restaurant, convenience shop/café and gymnasium, all provided for staff and visitor health and wellbeing, and also to try and reduce car travel and commuting/energy use.
With its striking glass facades and innovative design, the building is designed to draw natural warmth/energy from the sun, with the open plan spaces and central multi-storey atrium designed to circulate air and help regulate temperature throughout the HQ.
Weston Group was the winner of the prestigious top Gold Award for Best Medium Sized Housebuilder at the annual 2022 WhatHouse? Awards for its commitment to designing and delivering environmentally sustainable projects. As a result, sustainability is an overarching agenda at Weston Group, and all developments are designed with a range of eco-credentials and built under a fabric-first policy and constructed using elements of the British Offsite Uni panel system.
New development design features include biodiverse roofs and brown roofs, ground and podium landscaped areas in order to maximise green open space and planting, buildings electric powered using 682 PV panels sited on rooftops and parking bays having access to electric vehicle charging points.
Although the Government ban on gas boiler installation will not start until 2025, Weston Group took the decision 18 months ago not to install individual gas boilers, and is now using electric boilers on all new schemes, to ensure that the business stays ahead of the curve on sustainability issues.
Founded in 1987 by Chairman and CEO Bob Weston and now one of the leading developers of quality homes in the South East of England, Weston Group has a £2.13 billion portfolio of current and pipeline developments across London and the South East, which will deliver over 7,500 new homes.
