Winners of Building Project of the Year 2024

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The Interchange was ISG's fourth project for the developer Rightacres Property Co on the prestigious Central Square development in Cardiff.

The project consisted of 318 build to rent (BtR) apartments over 25 floors, 152,000 ft² of office space across nine levels, a 14-bay bus interchange, Internal car park with 231 parking spaces, along with associated public realm works including biodiversity rain gardens. Having built a great working relationship with the client and consultant team they were able to streamline the design and cost at planning stage.

They partnered with their key suppliers which achieved a high level of added value and best practice in terms of early design and detailing as well as methods and sequences on such a complex project. The project team ensured sustainability and quality were at the forefront in both the design and construction, a testament to this being the number of industry leading standards incorporated. The BtR apartments became the first building in the UK to be certified under BRE’s new sustainability standard Home Quality Mark ONE at design stage.

The fit out of the office targeted net zero carbon and they reduced embodied carbon throughout the base build. The office is on target to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and Well Platinum. They will be monitoring actual annual energy performance of the building in operation with the ambition to achieve a NABERS UK rating of 5 stars. Throughout the construction period, they encountered unique challenges linked to COVID-19. Despite these challenges the project was handed over on time, to budget and to the client’s satisfaction.

Their soft landings approach saw them take the end users on the journey through samples & benchmarking, site visits, commissioning, advanced site access and training. This has resulted in a seamless transition from construction site to quality living and workspaces. A testament to the quality of the build is the fact the office is in full use for up to 1,200 L&G employees and the BtR apartments are over 90% let, far exceeding the client’s expectations.