The first turf has been cut for the new £11.6m Filwood Green Business Park, marking the formal start of construction on the South Bristol regeneration project.

Designed by Stride Treglown, the award-winning development will provide 40,000 sq ft of workshop and office space and is expected to support 350 jobs. It will be the only BREEAM Outstanding office building in the whole of the South West and will kick-start Bristol's status as European Green Capital in 2015.

Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson said: "It's testament to the environmental excellence of this project that even before the first turf has been cut it has been judged as outstanding by BREEAM, and highly commended at the BREEM Awards, the world's leading design and assessment method for sustainable buildings.

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"Filwood's Green Business Park is an example of our ambitions for our year as European Green Capital. It combines the highest level of environmental sustainability with strong economic and social benefits for local people. It is a leading project in the regeneration of South Bristol, a demonstration of the real benefit of organisations working together to deliver local jobs and growth."

To be built by Bristol-based Midas Construction on a brownfield site, the finished business park will produce 20% of its energy on site from renewable sources and will include a wetland ecology area, electric vehicle charging points, new cycling and walking routes and shower facilities for cyclists. It will also benefit from being on the route of Metrobus, due to start running in 2017.

The £11.6m project is part funded by Bristol City Council and has also received £5.37m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project has also received funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Revolving Infrastructure Fund, which is supported by the Government's Regional Growth Fund.

This development forms part of wider plans to regenerate Filwood Park, which is being led by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and also includes a provision for new public park and up to 150 new and affordable homes. The HCA has supported the business park by making the land available to the council, securing outline planning permission to develop the wider Filwood Park site and providing key infrastructure including a new access road and services.

(CD/JP)