Decarbonisation
£1.6m
29 weeks
William Birch Construction delivered a £1.6m decarbonisation programme for East Riding of Yorkshire Council, enhancing the energy performance of three diverse public buildings while keeping all sites fully operational throughout the works.
Project Overview
Annie Reed Road – Council depot for vehicles and maintenance teams.
Bridlington Spa – A dance hall, theatre and conference centre on the seafront.
County Hall in Beverley – a Grade II listed municipal building.
“Understanding of the works, the disruption arising through the works, and development of a strategy to manage the works have been grasped by William Birch; and proactively developed with advancement of survey to realise programme savings”.
ERYC’s Project Director
Scope of Works
The works included;New triple-glazed windows, replacing double glazed units.
LED lighting to replace fluorescent fittings
Rationalisation of the heating systems to include the installation of air source heat pumps across all three buildings.
Installation of new roof insulation
Building Management Systems upgraded to include for metering of services for monitoring purposes
Challenges & Our Approach
Challenge and solution: Building while business continued as usual
All three buildings remained live and fully operational throughout the works, from public events and daily visitors to staff and vehicle movements, requiring construction to adapt seamlessly around people, performance and public services.
Careful phasing and people-first planning – Through intelligent phasing, targeted decanting and close coordination with stakeholders, works were delivered safely and efficiently, maintaining uninterrupted operations while protecting staff, visitors and the public at all times.
The project required a high degree of collaborative working between the Client team, design team, William Birch and our supply chain partners due to the design development and achieving the required carbon savings to secure the funding from Salix. The project team worked together very effectively and flexibly to develop detailed proposals.
Challenge and solution – Achieving carbon savings in diverse buildings
The project required a high degree of collaborative working between the Client team, design team, William Birch and our supply chain partners due to the design development and achieving the required carbon savings to secure the funding from Salix. The project team worked together very effectively and flexibly to develop detailed proposals.
Outcome
The decarbonisation works successfully delivered measurable reductions in energy demand and carbon emissions across all three sites, enabling East Riding of Yorkshire Council to meet Salix funding requirements and progress its wider net zero ambitions.
Building performance was significantly improved through upgraded building fabric, modernised heating systems and enhanced controls, resulting in more efficient, comfortable and future-ready public assets. Crucially, the programme was completed while all buildings remained fully operational, with public services, events and council activities continuing safely and without disruption.
The collaborative approach adopted by the project team ensured design development challenges were resolved efficiently, programme savings were achieved, and long-term monitoring capability was embedded to support ongoing energy management and performance reporting.
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