A new £10m business complex is set to be built in Lancaster as an Italian technology company heads to the city.
GVS says it aimsto create an eye-catching complex to 'promote its global brand and reflect its Italian roots'. GVS also has says the site has ambitions of becoming carbon neutral, with the development to include the use of renewable energy, sustainable water drainage and heat transfer management systems.The business' current UK office in Morecambe opened in 1995 and employs more than 190 people. All employees will be relocated to the new site.
The finishing touch to the complex is a two-storey building that will serve as reception and office and administration area with its frontage on Caton Road, a gateway to Lancaster’s city centre. Cassidy + Ashton is providing architectural and planning consultancy services to GVS on the project, which includes managing the tender process to appoint contractors. Its technical design team will then provide project management services onsite until completion.
Focusing on the use of renewable energy, Cassidy + Ashton’s proposed design includes installing solar panels on the roof of the warehouse and operations facilities, while heat pumps will transfer heat created during production processes to warm the office areas. The new headquarters also includes a sustainable drainage system with surface water redirected via grassed swales integrated into the car park, to a landscaped wildlife pond, before the water is released into the River Lune.