Merchant Square is an environmental first

Merchant Square, which is set to house 3,000 PwC staff across nine floors, was design and developed by Oakland Holdings in a project which began in 2017 and was completed in Autumn 2020.

The building, which is at the heart of the Belfast business district and adjacent to Belfast City Hall, provides 230,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and is set to become one of the most advanced digital commercial spaces in the city.

BREEAM UK asses new and refurbished buildings according to the environmental sustainability standards which were applied during planning and construction. The BREEAM evaluation was completed at the end of 2020. The process measures the steps taken on use of energy, links to public transport, efficiency of water and waste management, heat and light and the management of waste and pollution among other features. BREEAM assessors concluded that Merchant Square meets the ‘Excellent’ standard.

Adam Dickson, Finance Director of Oakland Holdings said: “When we set out to re imagine the former Oyster House building on Wellington Square, we aimed to provide Grade A office space in Belfast, meeting the demand we knew existed in the commercial property sector, to contribute to the rebuilding and regeneration of Belfast & Northern Ireland and just as importantly to be a leader in the development of sustainable, environmental proofed commercial property.

“The delivery of an excellent BREEAM rated building meant building sustainability and ‘green’ credentials into the project right from the design stage. We made sure that as we demolished the old building as much of the material as could be reused was, and from day one we insisted that the site facilitate cyclists and public transport for workers to travel to and from their office. That meant providing parking space for cyclists, a laundry and maximising our proximity to local transport connections, all in a low carbon design plan.”

The BREEAM assessors praised the environmental focus in the Merchant Square project stating: “BREEAM and sustainability aspirations for Merchant Square were set out from the very start of the project. The design team worked collaboratively and proactively to establish and deliver an Environmental Management Plan, which contributed greatly to the BREEAM performance of the completed Merchant Square.”

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