Planners at Middlesbrough Council have given the green light to plans for the first two futuristic cube buildings at the town’s Middlehaven site.

The first buildings proposed by developer BioRegional Quintain will showcase the ambition and originality of Tees Valley Regeneration’s flagship scheme.

One of the two buildings will be by world renowned architect Will Alsop – the man behind the original Middlehaven vision contained in the masterplan - and the second by award winning architects FAT.

Planning consent, granted on Friday(July 6), clears the way for work to start later this year, with further detailed planning applications expected in the coming months.

The two buildings will feature 70 and 80 apartments and 6,000sq ft and 7,000sq ft of ground floor office space respectively.

They will be the first of nine ‘cube’ blocks planned for the site featuring a mixture of residential and commercial space.

Tees Valley Regeneration appointed BioRegional Quintain as developers and earlier this year the firm submitted revised plans for the £200m scheme to which will see 900,000sq ft of development on Middlehaven, which will be the UK’s most environmentally friendly development with zero carbon emissions.

The cubes will be served by a biomass boiler with gas back-up, and the development will be powered by on- and off-site wind power, helping residents to save on heating and electric bills in comparison with other new developments.

The latest plans also include detail of the landscaping around the cubes and Middlesbrough College, which is already under construction, and the transport links onto the site.

Overall the Middlehaven scheme is expected to create over 3,000 jobs and will feature 2,400 homes alongside shops, bars, cafes restaurants and a luxury hotel.

Middlehaven won international acclaim earlier this year when the plans landed a top honour at the MIPIM (Architectural Review) Future Projects awards.

Pete Halsall, managing director of BioRegional Quintain, said: “This is fantastic news.

“We are delighted that the Middlesbrough community supports this exciting venture.

“We are now looking forward to getting on with providing excellent new homes and a fantastic new living environment for the people of Middlesbrough.

“We hope to start work on site later this year.”

Sean Egan, Middlehaven project director for Tees Valley Regeneration, added: “It’s great to see BioRegional Quintain’s scheme being delivered on schedule.

“A real momentum is now beginning to build and people will soon be able to see for themselves the vision becoming a reality.

“Everybody can see how exciting and striking the buildings are and we now look forward to seeing the developers start on site later in the year.”