Winvic Construction is proud to announce a double win at the prestigious Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice, recognising the organisation’s commitment to sustainability and innovation at the SEGRO Park Coventry development.
The Green Apple Awards celebrate organisations that go above and beyond in protecting the environment, promoting sustainable practices, and championing innovation in how projects are delivered – both in construction and across wider industries. Winvic competed against more than 1,000 other nominations for Environmental Best Practice, highlighting the scale and competitiveness of the awards.
The team receiving the award in the House of Lords (from left to right) Phil Hinman Winvic Construction Manager, Danny Brown SEGRO Infrastructure Director, Eamonn Hackett Winvic Project Manager, Chris Sherwin Winvic Site Agent, Paul Thomas Winvic Head of Environment.
This double award success underlines Winvic’s dedication to sustainability and innovation in its approach to environmental management at SEGRO Park Coventry. Appointed in 2023, Winvic supported SEGRO in transforming the contaminated brownfield site into a thriving 215-acre logistics and industrial hub, providing up to 3.7 million sq ft of commercial space and once fully occupied, creating around 5,500 new jobs, delivering significant economic benefits to the local community. Alongside the creation of SEGRO Park Coventry, the scheme also delivers a 250-acre Country Park – a major environmental and community asset that benefits not only customers of the development but also the wider local community.
The flagship regeneration project transformed a complex brownfield site into a modern logistics hub through innovative, sustainable construction methods. Formerly home to a wastewater treatment facility, multiple licensed and unlicensed landfill areas, and remnants of a WWII airfield, the site presented significant environmental challenges. Around 3.7 million m³ of mixed landfill materials and made ground – including concrete, brick and rock – along with roughly 600,000 m³ of residual wastewater remnants, required careful handling. Winvic and SEGRO adopted a circular economy-led approach, treating materials on site wherever possible and reusing approximately 1.9 million m³ of soils, drastically reducing waste and minimising the need for off-site disposal.
Silver Award: Pollution Containment Valve Innovation with Sandfield Penstock Solutions
Winvic received the Silver Award for pioneering the UK’s first deployment of an innovative Pollution Containment Valve (ToggleBlok™) developed by Sandfield Penstock Solutions. Acting as a water-quality ‘last line of defence’ on a construction site, the technology utilises real-time pH and turbidity sensors that automatically shut a penstock valve if water quality exceeds specified limits. This prevents discharges potentially polluting environmentally sensitive watercourses.
Given the remote location of the installation, Winvic powered the system using solar panels, eliminating the need for generators. Once activated, the valve remains mechanically locked and sends instant alerts to the project team, who can remotely monitor and reset the system once water quality stabilises.
This marks the first time this technology has been used for water-pollution prevention within the UK construction sector, setting a new industry benchmark for the management of environmental risks.
Bronze Award: Ecological Enhancements in Partnership with SEGRO
This award acknowledges the transformative ecological and biodiversity enhancements delivered by Winvic and SEGRO as part of the construction programme.
Beyond meeting planning requirements, the project team committed to providing extensive community and wildlife benefits across the development – including the creation of a new 100-acre Community Park.
Key ecological achievements include:
- Creation of 11 SuDS lagoons offering habitat for aquatic and bird life
- Planting of over 4,300 native trees across 21 species
- Creation of 36 newt ponds, 12 artificial badger setts, 4 otter holts, and multiple hibernacula
- Installation of 67 bat boxes, 52 bird boxes, and 15 owl boxes
- Development of 7.5km of new public footways, cycleways and bridleways
- Introduction of wildlife kerbs and low-impact lighting to protect nocturnal species
- Community Park and landscape enhancements providing long-term amenity and biodiversity gains
These measures ensure the project leaves a lasting environmental legacy, with habitats for bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates being actively enhanced and protected.
Ian Goodhead, Winvic’s Group HSEQ Director said: “These two Green Apple Awards reflect Winvic’s on-going commitment to best practice in environmental management by seeking innovative solutions that leave a positive environmental legacy. It is fantastic news that our efforts and those of our client and partners has been recognised, and highlights that our ethos of ‘Doing it Right’ brings tangible results.”
Paul Thomas, Winvic’s Head of Environment said: “Environmental protection is a priority for Winvic across all our projects, and these awards recognise the success of our collaborative approach. Working closely with SEGRO and Sandfield Penstock Solutions, we were able to trial, refine and implement a UK-first solution that provides a stronger safeguard for local watercourses and sets a new benchmark for the industry, while significantly enhancing local biodiversity.”
Danny Brown, Infrastructure Director in SEGRO’s National Markets team said: “After acquiring this brownfield site, we had to carry out a significant amount of work to regenerate the land ahead of construction and occupation of our buildings. This has taken a huge effort and commitment from hundreds of people across our project team and supply chain and it’s great to see these efforts recognised and a modern, sustainable park taking shape. We are proud of this one-of-a-kind development having remediated the land, prevented the risk of long term pollution to the environment and have created a wonderful community park for the local residents to enjoy.”
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