Hill Dickinson advises St Helens Borough Council on £54m Glass Futures build

Commercial landowner and property developer Network Space Developments (NSD) has appointed a contractor for the £54 million construction of a Global Centre of Excellence at Saints Retail Park, St Helens. 

Derbyshire-based construction group Bowmer + Kirkland will start construction on the Glass Futures development, a transformational global glass research and innovation facility, in January 2022. The 165,000 sq ft scheme is expected to complete in January 2023, ready for fit-out.

The facility, which has been pre-let to St Helens Borough Council on a 15-year head lease, will deliver industry and government-backed research and development projects focused on decarbonising glass production. 

Advising St Helens Borough Council on the deal from inception through to completion of all the legal documentation were Matt Noon, partner and head of Liverpool Corporate, and Alex McCann, partner and head of Liverpool Real Estate, of commercial law firm Hill Dickinson.

Commenting on the deal, Matt Noon said: “The Glass Futures development is an exciting partnership for St Helens Borough Council with an aim to achieve zero carbon glass. St Helens has long been associated with excellence in glass production and is now leading the way in decarbonising the process to help create a better, cleaner planet. We were delighted to advise the council on its part in the partnership with Glass Futures, Network Space, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and UKRI.”

St Helens Borough Council will sub-let the facility to Glass Futures, as occupier and manager of the building. In addition to R&D projects around decarbonisation, the facility will provide access to an experimental-scale furnace to test and run trials for implementation at commercial scale on a line, both collaboratively and individually.

Delivery of the project was conceived and is being managed by NSD on behalf of a partnership including not-for-profit research organisation Glass Futures, St Helens Borough Council, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and UKRI (UK Research & Innovation).