Network Space Developments (NSD) has appointed Bowmer + Kirkland to build the £54million Glass Futures Global Centre of Excellence at Saints Retail Park in St Helens.

Remediation and preparatory works will shortly complete and in January 2022, construction will start of the glass research and innovation facility. The 165,000 sq ft scheme is expected to complete in January 2023, ready for fit-out.

The facility has been pre-let to St Helens Borough Council on a 15 year head lease and will be sub-let to Glass Futures which will occupy and manage the building to deliver industry and government backed research and development projects focused on decarbonising glass production.

Delivery of the project was conceived and is being managed by landowner and developer NSD, on behalf of a partnership including not-for-profit research organisation Glass Futures , St Helens Borough Council, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and UKRI (UK Research & Innovation).

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region, said: “This is a massively important project, not only for our region but for the future of the planet. St Helens has always been a global leader in the glass industry with a proud industrial past. Glass Futures will help it maintain that prominence and give the town a significant role in the Green Industrial Revolution too.”

Glass Futures’ Chief Executive, Richard Katz, said: “Starting on site is monumental, it enables the delivery of a test-bed facility to develop processes to make glass the most sustainable and recyclable material available. This Global Centre of Excellence, working in partnership with its members and the worldwide glass industry, will enable us to work collaboratively with our members, the supply chain and academia to ultimately achieve zero carbon glass.”

www.glass-futures.org

Image: Bowmer + Kirkland take on the construction of Glass Futures in January 2022