“Futuristic” plans have been filed to transform a former industrial office complex into a “21st century Port Sunlight” with more than 500 homes.
SOG Group wants to redevelop the 57-acre Heath Business and Technical Park (BTP) in Runcorn as “Heath Park”, and has now submitted a planning application to Halton Borough Council following three years of research. The company said the project would involve adapting the existing business and science park into an eco-village featuring 545 net zero homes including 59 senior living and extra care flats, commercial use properties such as a hotel and for leisure use, a 55,000 sq ft state-of-the-art vertical farm powered by hydrogen, and 20,000 sq ft of retail space.
An SOG spokesman said the masterplan has been developed in consultation with Halton Council’s planning department and grew out of a global competition that challenged architects, designers and planners to create a “sustainable futuristic environment”. Design criteria stipulated it must be powered by renewable energy and a place where "people can live, work and play".
