New office block with techs appeal as C4DI expands
CONSTRUCTION is nearing completion on a new showpiece building for Hull’s thriving tech community.
The three-storey sister building for the Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) offers space for tech businesses to grow and traditional companies to innovate through technology.
The £3.75m building has been developed by regeneration company Wykeland Group and is the latest major investment at Wykeland’s @Thedock tech campus in the Fruit Market creative quarter.
David Donkin, property director of Hull-based Wykeland, said: “This new tech hub sends out a very strong signal of confidence in the city’s economy and post-covid recovery.
“It will provide a platform for innovative digital businesses to start up, scale up and collaborate with established companies to seize the many growth opportunities technology offers.
“During the pandemic digital technology has been a key enabler of business continuity. Now, following the disruption caused by Covid-19, the tech sector will be to the fore in driving the region’s economic revival.”
The project has been supported with almost £1.3m from the Government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and part of the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse.
The new building will create around 160 new highly-skilled and highly-paid tech jobs.
The new 20,000 sq ft building has ground-floor parking for 25 cars, including two electric car ports, and a secure cycle unit, with two floors of offices above.
Office suites are available from 200sq ft to 17,500sq ft.
The building’s striking design, featuring glazed brickwork, light bronze cladding and glazed stairwells, enhances further the quality of office buildings in the city, and it also has strong environmental credentials, with a BREEAM sustainability rating of “very good”.
Wykeland has worked closely with Hull-based principal contractor Hobson & Porter to ensure construction has continued with minimal disruption, following the introduction of Covid-secure working arrangements.
The new building is the latest phase of the @Thedock tech cluster, developed by Wykeland on a waterfront site, which was derelict just a few years ago.
@Thedock has the original C4DI building as its centrepiece and offers the newest Grade A office environment in Hull.
The development has generated hundreds of highly-skilled jobs and has been a vital element in the transformation of the Fruit Market area into a vibrant urban village and magnet for investment.
The £80m rejuvenation of the Fruit Market is being driven forward by the Wykeland Beal joint venture formed by Wykeland and Beal Homes, working in partnership with Hull City Council.
The success of the Fruit Market regeneration was recognised with a Game Changer Award for Wykeland Beal at the Yorkshire Property Awards.