One Strawberry Lane
Newcastle City Centre
What?
A new head office building for Home Group, one of the UK’s largest providers of social housing.
Why?
To provide a great place to work which is designed to be inclusive and reflective of the company’s brand and values.
How?
Through an OJEU process, we were chosen by Home Group as preferred developer to deliver a new headquarter building to encourage a collaborative, flexible and exciting work environment for their administrative and customer service staff, as well as creating commercial floorspace for SME’s looking for project accommodation. With a welcoming ground floor reception, open plan floorplates and the ground floor café creating a buzz throughout the working day, this new high quality building is one of a number of significant investments in this part of Newcastle.
We delivered:
- 70,000 sq ft Grade A BREEAM Excellent office
- Café to be operated by a local community group
- Co-working space and business lounge
location
size
end value
public partner
status
due for completion
Completion Date
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Project Updates
One Strawberry Lane launches
We were delighted to join Home Group’s guests and colleagues at the launch event of One Strawberry Lane which included a tour of the fantastic and varied workspaces available to their staff.
As part of our Community Benefits Project, three local charities were also invited to talk the audience through their fundraising efforts with the final vote going in favour of Crafty Lasses, part of the Pendower Good Neighbour Project. Well done to all three who will each receive a donation.
Raising the bar for social value delivery
Working alongside Home Group and BAM, we have returned a 44% social value score which is up to three times the national average for a similar sized project.
Research last year by Social Value Portal and SCAPE show that the average social value scores for construction projects range between 13-25%, with the lower score correlating to larger developments.
More than £16m has been reinvested within 30 miles of this project, with the majority of the local spend supporting micro, small and medium enterprises.
Headline figures include:
- 7 community projects supported with a value of £150k through the Community Fund and donated volunteer hours and materials
- 77% local spend
- 182 people engaged in industry workshops
- 31 local unemployed people into work
- 19 apprentices gained training on the project
- Grassroots sports supported
- Mental health and wellbeing initiatives for the workforce throughout
One Strawberry Lane
We have now handed over One Strawberry Lane to Home Group so the fit out can commence, ready for their 700 staff to move into early next year.
Thanks to BAM for capturing some great time lapse footage which you can view here .
Volunteering day at West End Food Bank
We had a very productive day on 27 April when we were joined by our construction partner, BAM to deliver a volunteering day at West End Food Bank, one of the charities being supported as part of our Community Benefits Project. Helped too by colleagues from Ryder Architecture, we managed to paint ceilings, walls, doors, arcs and notice boards to really freshen up the space which is also used by local community groups for youth activities.
Another milestone achieved
Watch as the delicate operation of dismantling the tower crane at Home Group’s new HQ is completed, achieving a major milestone in construction as we move into the final phase. Special thanks to Matt Beattie at BAM!
Community garden opens thanks to Ask and BAM’s unique city fund
Working with Home Group, we are delighted that the once unusable place at Pendower has been turned into a fabulous community garden for residents in the west end of Newcastle to enjoy.
Launching with a festive celebration to mark the transformation of the once overgrown space, the Pendower Good Neighbour Project has been brought to life as part of the £100,000 commitment by us and our contractor partner, BAM providing an enjoyable and safe space for the local community.
