Castle Vale

This 1960s single storey empty warehouse near Birmingham required updating. Although structurally sound it was only 4.5m high at the eaves. Whilst adequate in the 1960s, this made the building unlettable today because a forklift truck could not be used within the building. The original precast concrete framed warehouse relied on 4.5m high cantilevered columns for lateral stability. An elegant solution was devised to extend the columns in insitu concrete; re-use the main roof beams and by adding a horizontal steelwork wind girder in the roof and braced panels in the gables convert the building to a braced shed. New metal purlins, cladding rails, insulated cladding and doors completed the factory envelope.

The offices were stripped back to their structural skeleton and a pitched roof added before re-cladding to modern standards. This project demonstrates the considerable potential for economic upgrading of existing buildings without compromising the end specification.