New Peterborough store will be entirely lit by LED lighting

Willmott Dixon is to build a £9.5m “super green” Morrisons supermarket in Peterborough. The scheme includes a number of retail firsts which Willmott claim could become standard across the sector.

The 4,162m2 supermarket will be the first in Europe to be entirely lit by LED lighting which is virtually maintenance free for the first 50,000 hours.

The refrigeration system will use hydrocarbons only instead of energy intensive hydroflorocarbons. A solar wall system on the south side cladding will heat up air in voids within the cladding and then draw it into the building’s heating and ventilation system.

The store will also have no ceiling so it can accommodate north-facing roof windows to flood the store with natural daylight while photo-voltaic panels will be installed to the south-facing roof.

Wilmott Dixon is working on the project with architect Davis Weatherill Partnership in conjunction with M&E consultant NG Bailey and refrigeration partner Honeywell.

Construction is scheduled to be complete by September with the store earmarked to open the following month.

Clive Pople, retail director with Willmott Dixon, said: “This will be a low carbon store the entire retail industry will aim to replicate as they look to adopt new ways to reduce reliance on expensive energy and cut running costs.

“We will use our learning here to be a strategic partner for customers like Morrisons as we help them meet the challenges created by the UK’s ongoing transformation to a low carbon economy.”