Morgan Sindall is lined-up as main contractor for the Norwich Research Park Enterprise Centre, at the University of East Anglia.

The building is targeting BREEAM Outstanding and Passivhaus Certification and building materials including Thetford timber, lime, hemp and flint, will be sourced locally.

Local suppliers will be employed to create the building and during its construction 540 SMEs from across the region will have access to a series of educational events to spread the green building message.

The two-storey building will be a hub for low carbon thinking housing work areas, offices, academic classrooms, communal meeting areas and a range of other spaces.

The building will also house a 300 seat lecture theatre and a testing pavilion for trialing new construction innovations.

Project Director John French said: “It will be a huge benefit to the local economy and to our reputation as a green capital.

“We want to demonstrate that this is possible to do, so that people will copy it.

“People never change in society unless someone comes along and does something differently. The layout of the building will place academic and commercial users side by side. We want students to interact with businesses and to start their own businesses.”