Source: dailymail.co.uk
M&S bosses are going green with a vast new store, currently under construction.
Their soon-to-open Cheshire Oaks branch, near Ellsemere Port, on the Wirral, will be the biggest after the flagship store at Marble Arch, London.
And it will have the most environmentally conscious credentials of any Marks and Spencer - and has taken almost seven years to create.
The Cheshire Oaks branch, near Ellsemere Port, on the Wirral, will have the most environmentally conscious credentials of any Marks and Spencer when it opens in June - and has taken almost seven years to create
There are as many as 250 trades people and managers on-site each day and it has taken more than 1,000 contractors, sub-contractors, architects, designers and experts to get the store ready to hand over to merchandisers, final fit shop fitters and the new 350-employees in June.
It is due to open in late summer.
Each part of the building has been carefully designed to fall in-line with M&S’s Plan A - which aims to make it the most sustainable retailer in the world.
The impressive exposed beam ceiling, which is held together by huge bolts, has a recycled aluminium ceiling which is covered by a material made out of 100 per cent recycled glass bottles
From the outside, huge banks of soil can be seen around much of the building to provide natural insulation, while underground pipes, 6ft in diameter, will provide natural air conditioning.
Hemp clad wall technology has been used to allow the giant store to ‘breathe’ and cedarwood panels on the sides of the building have been strategically angled to make the best use of natural light.
Rooflights will also maximise northern light and LED lighting has been used in the car park. There are integrated Swift and bird boxes as well as planted ‘green walls’.
It has taken more than 1,000 contractors, sub-contractors, architects, designers and experts to get the store ready to hand over to merchandisers, final fit shop fitters and the new 350-employees
Rooflights will also maximise northern light and LED lighting has been used in the car park. There are integrated Swift and bird boxes as well as planted ‘green walls’
Their commitment to ‘green’ technologies goes as far as using rainwater collected in an 80,000 litre underground tank to flush toilets and a biomass boiler to heat the store.
The Plan A ethos is no more evident than in the wave-like Glulam timber roof which from the inside looks like a huge wooden jigsaw puzzle.
The impressive exposed beam ceiling, which is held together by huge bolts, has a recycled aluminium ceiling which is covered by a material made out of 100 per cent recycled glass bottles.
Each part of the building has been carefully designed to fall in-line with M&S’s Plan A - which aims to make it the most sustainable retailer in the world
Rex Littlewood, business unit director of Simons, which is building the 148,000sq ft two-storey store said no waste has yet gone to landfill. Instead much of the 55,000 tonnes of earth dug up to level the site has been donated to local communities including BASE motocross park.
Clem Constantine, M&S director of UK and international property and store development, said: 'We are very pleased with how the store is progressing.
'It not only puts the area on the map for having the most carbon and energy efficient, full-line M&S store but it will also be a great boost to the local economy too and deliver the very best of M&S for our customers in Cheshire.'
The store features a 958-bay car park with charging points for electric cars, as well as covered space for 100 bicycles
Shoppers entering through automatic revolving doors on the ground floor will be welcomed by a huge womenswear floorspace, including beauty and lingerie concessions, as well as a cafe to the rear and a food hall on the far right, which can also be accessed via a separate entrance.
Travelling up the designer escalators through a huge gap in the mezzanine floorspace, shoppers will be offered menswear, childrenswear and a huge space for homewear to the rear of the building, and a second cafe in the far left-hand corner.
They will also be able to view the neighbouring David Lloyd Leisure Centre, The Coliseum leisure and shopping park, the Blue Planet Aquarium and the Porsche garage.
M&S's commitment to ‘green’ technologies goes as far as using rainwater collected in an 80,000 litre underground tank to flush toilets and a biomass boiler to heat the store
The store will be second only to M&S’s Marble Arch store in London in its offer and will carry almost every single M&S range.
The creation of M&S’s second biggest flagship store was first mooted in 2005 and after successful discussions with church commissioners who own the land, plans were created.
A year later in June, 2008 the store’s first planning application was lodged and after public consultations and co-operation with the Stanney Oaks Community Action Group, which originally included people totally against the store, consent was granted on October 5, 2009.
Among a host of traffic-calming measures M&S’s planning consent included a series of traffic lights which have already been installed on the roundabout at J10 of the M53 and leading to the store.
Entrance onto the site will be off Longlooms Road and a swale area to the right will be landscaped and feature a viewing platform, as well as a lake.
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