Great Glen House, Inverness

Robertson Property developed this environmentally sustainable 6,000m2 headquarters for Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Construction was by Robertson Northern, with the project earning the first BREEAM Excellent rating in the UK and the highest-ever rating at the time, with a score of 84%.

SNH was relocating its headquarters from Edinburgh to Inverness and as a development partner, Robertson Property oversaw the delivery of a new building that had to meet the highest possible environmental standards.

This was achieved through:

• artificial cooling only in server room; offices and meeting rooms naturally ventilated;
• exposed concrete ceiling slab acts a daytime heat sink;
• exposed slab and natural ventilation design reduces predicted heating season to 17 weeks;
• 17m² of evacuated-tube solar pre-heat collectors provide 65 to 80% of hot water needs;
• overall carbon rating: 7.16kg/m² per annum;
• U-values exceed Building Standards by 15%;
• airtightness test result: 4.78m³/hr/m² at 50 Pa;
• rainwater harvested from the office and atrium roof for toilet flushing;
• heating and hot water use are approx. 50% of benchmark for naturally ventilated buildings;
• EPI (Environmental Performance Indicator) score: 10 (maximum);
• office lighting has daylight sensors and is PIR controlled.

Robertson also implemented measures to enable sustainable travel, including car-sharing schemes, cycle changing facilities, lockers and showers, improved bus service from the city centre and video conference facilities to cut down on travel to meetings.

Robertson Property initially leased the building to SNH with an option to purchase. SNH were so happy with the premises that they took up this option and bought the building.

Robertson Facilities Management went on to provide maintenance for a 3-year period, demonstrating the end-to-end service that Robertson can provide.