CABI Headquarters – Commercial Wallingford

The unique CABI development provides office and residential space with a low impact design, and a strong emphasis on low-carbon design principles.

Ridge worked closely with the client and design team to ensure that design choices were reflective of the client’s aspirations including:

• Demolition of all existing buildings on site
• Construction of an exemplar headquarters building allowing CABI to continue operating throughout the construction period
• Construction of a new residential development of 91 new houses to provide the enabling funding for the HQ building

As a non-profit organisation, centred around agricultural and environmental development, it was vital to CABI’s brief that passive design principles be fully integrated into the completed development. Also key to the project was that building itself have minimal visual impact on the surrounding environment.

Working with planning consultants, Ridge gained Outline Planning for the £40million development and undertook commercial and contractual negotiations with a number of developers. In tandem, Ridge took the Client brief for the office and, as project managers, tendered through a design competition to appoint the architect, design team and quantity surveyor.