iCon tops out
Daventry’s eco-friendly iCon building has officially topped out. The £8.5m structure will provide accommodation, support and advice for up to 60 new and inventive businesses.
The iCon will be named a national centre of excellence for the sustainable construction and green technologies industries.
The building will feature 60 small offices, a conference hall for up to 300 people, an exhibition space, a public piazza, and a café/restaurant.
It will also be home to the East Midlands’ Sustainable Construction Innovation Network (iNet), which has been established to support construction businesses in the region.
Northampton based contractors Winvic Build are constructing the iCon. They started work started in summer 2009 and are due to complete the project in spring 2011.
A different style of roof now covers the incubation units, central atrium and conference centre.
The iCon has already been the recipient of two design awards, collecting a Green Apple Award for Architecture and the Built Environment in June 2010, as well as a Milton Keynes South Midlands Excellence Award in December 2010.
Funding for the project has been obtained from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the East Midlands Development Agency and the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation. Daventry District Council and Northamptonshire County Council have donated the land for the project.
