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The key objective of this 350,000sqft headquarters for the City of Edinburgh Council was to create a landmark building which demonstrated environmental excellence in all aspects of design, construction and function.

74 Key Performance indicators (all of which were achieved) formed part of the contract with Morley Developments, contributing to a BREAAM rating of Excellent.  Air leakage was 2.84m3/m2/hour against a building regulations norm of 10m3 and the building design exceeded targets for both operational energy and carbon emissions. 

Clad in natural limestone and curtain walling on 14 elevations, it also boasts eight grassed roof terraces.  Internally the building is serviced by 738 multi-service chilled beams and perimeter trench heating.

Challenges included, maintaining a two lane road through the site allowing 24 hour access to Waverley station.  To build the basement, Victorian vaults which supported the main rail lines to Waverley had to be excavated up to 12m in depth within 6m of the operational rail lines and live overhead power cables.  These works required full design approval from Network Rail throughout all stages of the base build works.