RO Real Estate is excited to be bringing forward a major office refurbishment of Sibury House that prioritises sustainability in all aspects, from design to operation.

RO has a 30-year history of investing and developing in Milton Keynes, and the location has held a longstanding appeal, with easy access to London, Oxford and Cambridge.

The back-to-frame refurbishment of Silbury House has the intention of making it the most sustainable office building in Milton Keynes, already the greenest city in the UK.

The building will excel in heating control, water saving, and energy use reduction with the ambitious target of achieving BREEAM Outstanding and EPC A.

In what will be an exemplar office development for the city and the wider region, the building will benefit from on-site solar power generation, EV charging points, sustainably sourced furniture, around 40% less embodied carbon (vs RIBA 2030 target) and around 45% less predicted Energy Use Intensity (vs REEB good practice).

A key aim of the refurbishment is to deliver an office building which is as good as ‘new’ but with a significant reduction in the embodied carbon in comparison to a brand-new build. An example of this is that the refurbishment will reuse nearly two floors’ worth of existing raised access panels, already on site, requiring only cleaning and structural support replacement. This represents a substantial carbon saving of 27.76 TCO2e, equivalent to powering a laptop for nearly 85,000 years!

Silbury House has been designed to create an inviting environment that improves occupier wellbeing, with the aim of achieving a Fitwell 3-star certification, the world’s leading certification system that optimises buildings to support health and wellbeing. The building will benefit from contemporary interior design with high-quality finishes, a reconfigured reception, a communal business lounge and city garden courtyard, secure bicycle storage, unisex showers on all floors and RESET Air Quality.

A range of spaces for occupiers large and small will be available to let from 14 to 20 desks in fitted suites on the ground floor, all the way up to the entire building of 23,089 square feet. The first and second floors provide bright and efficient floor plates which are easily divisible, accommodating requirements from 4,270 to 17,502 square feet.

Ed Davidson, Asset Management Director at RO Real Estate, said:

“The RO has a long track record of delivering best-in-class office developments and our ambitions for Silbury House were not only to deliver the most sustainable office building in MK, but to also challenge ourselves in the way that we approach office development, with this scheme being used as a blueprint for future projects.”

Tom Harker, Director, Office Advisory at Lambert Smith Hampton, said:

“There is proven demand from occupiers for best- in-class office space with excellent sustainability credentials. This trend is evident across the south east market, but unlike its peers, Milton Keynes has an acute shortage of Grade A office space, which stands at just 10% or so of available stock. Silbury House will set a new benchmark for sustainable refurbishment in the region and we are already in discussions with a number of prospective occupiers.”

Completion of the refurbishment is anticipated by Spring 2024.

For further information, please contact me on my details below.