New flexible workspace is the bee’s knees after £12.4m refurbishment

The team at Milton Park has left no stone unturned to make sure the Bee House, Oxfordshire’s
largest, newest and 'buzziest' collaborative workspace is at the forefront of sustainable innovation.

Located at 140 Eastern Avenue, the launch of the Bee House in May will mark the end of a £12.4m refurbishment. Repurposing an existing building which has outlived its original purpose is the most sustainable of all construction methods.

The construction method saves the embodied energy within the fabric of the building, reduces demolition waste, minimises the need for new materials and reduces the level of construction traffic visiting the site.

Before it was known as the Bee House, the building originally was home to IT firm RM. The company has been based at Milton Park since the 1980s and is the second-oldest spinout to come out of Oxford University, having started its journey in 1973.

After 25 years of occupation and with evolving needs, RM subsequently moved across the road into new premises on Milton Park. The building evokes fond memories from many RM employees who had worked in the building over the years.

The Bee House will be electrically cooled and heated using a green renewable energy tariff. Occupiers will be able to control the temperature in their own environment by turning off the lights once they have left, via a dedicated Bee House app, reflecting Milton Park’s ambition to work in collaboration with its occupiers to reduce their carbon footprint.

A water course previously screened by the parking area has been opened to create a new wildflower meadow. The new design will attract bees and other pollinators throughout much of the year. A bespoke bee hotel has also been introduced, integrating branded signage with a home for solitary bees.

Over the years, Milton Park has developed a special relationship with the Bee, its chosen spirit animal. The
inspiration for the Bee House’s name came from the discovery of the what3words square in the building. The What3words is a  proprietary geocode system which generates three words for specific locales. This location has 'feasted, cloud, honeybees.'

In the Bee House you can feast in the new café, work in the cloud and collaborate like honeybees in a flexible workspace with a home-from-home vibe.

Kathryn Andrew, Assistant Development Manager at MEPC Milton Park, explains more about the Bee House’s sustainability credentials: “We’re very excited to be counting down the days until the Bee House’s launch in May, which will give us the opportunity to showcase the building’s sustainable qualities.

“As part of the building’s refurbishment, we’re targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’ recognition, the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for infrastructure and buildings, and an A-rating Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), the highest possible.”

Sustainability will also play an important part in the ongoing maintenance of the Bee House, such as keeping the workspace clean. For instance, using dissolvable tablets, chemical-free cleaning solutions will be generated on-site and transported using refillable bottles.

While the building itself will be at the buzzing edge of sustainability, there are a number of convenient ways for people to travel sustainably when visiting the new flexible workspace. For keen cyclists, there will be secure bike parking areas, a cycle hire hub, showers, and heated lockers. Fast-charging electric vehicle (EV) points will also be easily accessible to those who need to plug in. Like others based at Milton Park, for just £20 per year, people working at the Bee House can benefit from unlimited bus travel within Didcot Zone 1.

Philip Campbell, Commercial Director at MEPC Milton Park, said: “The innovations we’re now seeing at the Bee House can be traced back to James Dipple, our previous CEO, who had the brilliant foresight to develop the building’s under-croft parking in such a way that in the future it could be repurposed.”

“We think of Milton Park as a large incubator and the nature of Milton Park means we can accommodate the evolving needs of companies. Repurposing existing buildings not only means we can meet the future needs of companies but also do our part in tackling the climate emergency.”

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