Paradise Birmingham

By Andy Bushell, MEPC

As progress at Octagon marches on – and upwards! – we’re working hard to extend the range of sustainable initiatives to make this unique building one of the most admired in the city when it completes in 2025.

By leading on Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), the design and the construction team have been looking at more ways of reducing the buildings carbon footprint, minimising material wastage and improving site safety standards while construction is in progress.

This means much of the finished building will be built off site from modular components. This includes major items such as the façade, as well as interior bathroom pods, and the apartment utility cupboards for heating and electrical systems.

We’re also ensuring the use of pre-cast walls, slabs and columns throughout the building, and pre-formed wiring looms and pipework into peoples’ homes.

All of this reduces embodied carbon, builds efficient with improved quality and higher precision. It also means fewer staff on site, which again creates a safer construction environment, with less physical risk.

At present, the built environment is one of the biggest generators of carbon emissions globally, but we’re working hard in the UK to put our house in order and revolutionise the way new buildings are designed and built. Paradise is at the forefront of these moves, with all of our building operators, designers, contractors and suppliers becoming more aware of our environmental impacts, as time goes by.

With ever growing levels of material recycling, whether it’s waste, earthworks, concrete or steelwork, only an absolute minimal amount is going to landfill, with most material re-used on site within other parts of the building.

Transportation of material to site is another area that’s being carefully managed to ensure deliveries are sourced as locally as possible, with the least amount of deliveries over the shortest possible distances. As an example, all of the precast concrete components of the Octagon are manufactured within the Midland’s region.

The Octagon’s continual development reinforces our view that the team are always considering opportunities to improve the efficiency of delivery and betterment, right up to the final handover of the project in 2025.

Our contractors are central to helping us on this journey, with the teams sharing their own experiences and innovations with us – we’re all on the same page when it comes to creating a more sustainable future for the built environment and delivering special buildings like Octagon.