Core Five announces practical completion at One Friary office extension in Bristol

Core Five has announced practical completion at One Friary in Bristol, where it acted as quantity surveyor and employer's agent for development manager Bankfoot APAM on the extension and refurbishment of an existing office building.

The consultancy said the works removed the existing roof slab and added three new storeys, delivering about 60,000 sq ft of Grade A office space. Core Five said the project was delivered despite a challenging procurement market and the technical complexity of the structural works.

Bankfoot APAM separately announced that partial possession and building handover had been reached at the building, which it refers to as 1 Friary, Temple Quay. It named the wider project team as TP Bennett, HTS, BoxTwenty, Core Five and Pearce Planning.

Sam Crusz, Project Director at Bankfoot APAM, said: "the ambition throughout has been to future-proof this asset while respecting what was already there."

The project

Bankfoot APAM secured planning consent from Bristol City Council for the scheme on behalf of the building's owner, Britannia Invest A/S, which Catella APAM describes as a Danish pension fund. Bankfoot APAM appointed Beard Construction as main contractor for what it then described as a £24.5m redevelopment, with construction scheduled to start in April 2024.

Core Five announced on 6 March 2024 that the scheme was in contract. At that stage it described a seven-storey, 80,696 sq ft office building with a replaced facade, raised access flooring throughout, a level 6 terrace and new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems on every floor. The consultancy said it was the third development in the area on which it was assisting Bankfoot APAM.

The scheme was designed by tp bennett, according to Catella APAM, and Bankfoot APAM said the design added three new floors on top of the existing structure and a new glass-reinforced concrete facade.

Sustainability targets

At contract stage Core Five said the scheme was targeting BREEAM Outstanding, NABERS 5*, WELL Gold and WiredScore Gold. Catella APAM later listed BREEAM Outstanding, EPC A and WELL Gold as the targets.

Bankfoot APAM has since announced that One Friary achieved a BREEAM Outstanding rating at post-construction stage.

Catella APAM said at topping out in 2025 that retaining 85% of the existing concrete frame had saved more than 1,700 tonnes of embodied carbon. Bankfoot APAM's appointment announcement had said the scheme would reuse 99.5% of the existing structural frame.

The floor area has also been described differently across the project's announcements. Bankfoot APAM's appointment and handover posts give 80,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, in line with Core Five's 80,696 sq ft figure from March 2024, while Core Five's completion post and Catella APAM's 2025 release both give about 60,000 sq ft.

Programme

Catella APAM said at topping out in 2025 that practical completion was on track for the first quarter of 2026.

William Grenfell, Associate Director at Catella APAM, said: "Britannia has been a long-term investor in Bristol, having acquired One Friary in 2002 and with no plans to exit."

Core Five Consulting Limited is registered at Companies House as an active private limited company, incorporated on 31 May 2012 and registered in Wolverhampton under SIC code 74902, quantity surveying activities.