Hammerson and Costa have won Gold in sustainability category of the BCSC Gold Awards. The collaboration saw the creation of ​a new concept coffee shop. The first of its kind in the UK, the Costa Pod has achieved the highest Energy Performance Certificate rating of A+.

"This has been a great project that shows the positive outcomes real collaboration creates. As the case study shows, everyone has been a winner in this project and we look forward to opening the next one!" Louise Ellison, Head of Sustainability, Hammerson

>​See the BBP case study on this project: Hammerson and Costa Invest Collaboratively to Achieve Zero Carbon

The building pioneers environmentally-friendly and innovative energy saving technologies. The result is a 1,600 sq ft net zero energy store. 

Design Credentials

Initiatives used to create this building include:

• A special timber frame constructed using FSC sourced timber as an alternative to a traditional steel frame, reducing the embodied carbon footprint of the building
• A super-insulated facade using wood with excellent energy retention properties (keeping more heat in during the winter and also helping to keep the interior cool in summer)
• Intelligent orientation of the building to achieve optimum levels of sun and shade, impacting on overall energy requirements for heating and cooling
• Photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof
• An under-floor heating system and passive ventilation

More on our collaboration

The successful delivery of the Eco Pod marks another outstanding achievement as part of Positive Places, Hammerson’s sustainability strategy, following the creation of the B&Q Eco-Learning Store at Merthyr Tydfil and achievement of design stage BREEAM Excellent at both Les Terrasses du Port and Le Jeu de Paume in France. These achievements are built on Collaborative Partnerships with suppliers and retailers, showcasing just why we have Partner & Collaboration as one of our commitments.

Tom Cochrane, Asset Manager at Hammerson, said:

“The opening of the Costa Eco Pod at Wrekin Retail Park is a significant achievement for our team and clearly demonstrates that as a business, Hammerson is at the forefront of consumer awareness of supply chain ethics and environmental impacts.

By working collaboratively, we have been able to provide Costa with an entirely new and innovative concept store, as well as a UK first. Using this as a blueprint for low carbon and sustainable design we hope to support, where possible, other retailers in creating truly sustainable assets.”

Jim Slater, Managing Director of Costa UK and Ireland, said:

“This is an exciting first for coffee shop and retail design here in the UK and has the potential to transform not just how we build new stores at Costa but the industry far more widely. We wanted to explore new ways to serve quality coffee to our customers while managing our environmental footprint as responsibly as we can.

Through a successful partnership with Hammerson, we have developed an outstanding new type of test bed building design which really does have the potential to make a massive difference if rolled out more widely.”

This article was originally published on Hammerson's website here.