This award-winning RIBA and BCO project was the culmination of a competition that called for a 4,000sqm sustainably excellent ‘exemplar’ building, showcasing the feasibility of achieving maximum energy efficiency with low carbon technologies and construction methods.
The iCon comprises two blocks joined by a triple-height unheated foyer central ‘street’. The incubator wings house 54 serviced offices, circulation and exhibition space, a 300 person fully tiered lecture theatre, a café, breakout area and meeting space.
The building is designed solely on passive design principles with a three-story engineered timber frame, natural ventilation, renewable energy heat recovery systems and an extensive green ecological roof. The building applied the first commercial use of phase change materials into the spaces to manage thermal performance. Active monitoring systems were built in to allow full monitoring by the University of Northampton post-completion.
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