Creating the UK's first zero energy coffee outlet, with a multi-award winning design

The brief

Having been consistently reducing their energy use across their stores over a number of years, leading coffee experts Costa came to us with an ambitious and exciting brief – they wanted to create a sustainable building for one of their new stores; the UK’s very first zero energy coffee retail outlet.

The response

We love groundbreaking projects and embraced this one wholeheartedly to pack the deceptively simple coffee ‘pod’ design with carefully thought through sustainability features:

• The construction used our signature glulaminated timber frame with all timber carefully procured from sustainable sources, in line with our sustainability commitment.
• Installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the striking curved roof enabled all appliances in the popular outlet to be powered by a clean, sustainable energy source.
• Underfloor heating and passive ventilation technologies created a steady, optimal internal temperature gained entirely from natural resources.
• High efficiency composite insulated panels were used to construct the walls and roof panels to save on energy usage.

Each of these design elements were carefully balanced to provide a zero-energy building with an Energy Performance Asset Rating of A+.

The wow

Because we look after projects from design to installation we can think about sustainability from every angle. In this case intelligent building orientation optimised the capacity of the sun to provide natural light and heat gain in the ‘coffee pod’. This sustainable building enabled Costa to save considerably on energy usage and costs during busy retail hours and played a significant role in contributing towards the successful realisation of their ambitious zero energy goal.

We are also passionate about maximising the potential of sites, and in this case the integration of a canopy to the north of the building created a popular outdoor seating area that enabled Costa to serve hundreds more customers every year. This canopy was covered with our unique Opal 60 fabric that allows 60% light penetration while cutting out all UV – to create year-round weather protection for customers.

Our projects are award winning!

We’re delighted that the Costa Coffee ‘EcoPod’ that we created in partnership with renowned sustainable architecture firm Emission Zero Architects, won Energy Efficient Partnership of the Year and the Supreme Judges Award at The Energy Awards 2015.

These prestigious awards reward the achievements of companies leading the way in innovative energy use and design and were a proud moment for us of us at Fordingbridge who, as a team, are deeply committed to promoting sustainable thinking and action through innovative design. Find out more about our sustainability commitment.

Our innovative construction methods are perfect to create sustainable buildings in busy retail outlets

We understand how important it is to many of our customers across the retail, leisure, holiday and education sectors, to have minimal disruption on their sites, so we prefabricate all materials in our West Sussex factory, prior to arrival at site, resulting in less waste, less mess, less disruption and a faster and safer build process on busy, populated sites.

Satisfied customers come back time and again…

One of the best aspects of our work is the long-standing relationships we build with so many of our customers who come back to us again and again.

We’re proud that our milestone ‘first’ for Costa was far from a standalone. In fact, Costa were so happy with industry and customer feedback to their striking zero energy eco pod that they have since commissioned us to build two more of these sustainable buildings for them – one in Cumbria and one in Swansea – the ultimate sign of a satisfied customer!

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