This new development provides B&Q with improved research and store support facilities.
Redevelopment of an existing B&Q site in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire provides the DIY giant with a new 28,000m2 BREEAM ‘Excellent’ headquarters, store support office and merchandising centre.
The first phase of the project involved delivery of a three-level car park above a new merchandising laboratory. The second phase provided offices for the company’s store support operation. Fit out of the offices was completed under a separate contract.
We worked with the design team on the development and testing of the building’s signature glazed stone cladding panels which are formed from Pyrolave a volcanic rock.
The use of bespoke prefabricated curtain walling units incorporating a factory fitted internal wall ensured the building became watertight very quickly and saved the time normally required to construct the internal wall.
We collaborated with our scaffolding subcontractor to devise a complex self-bracing birdcage scaffold system to complete works in the entrance atrium. With no ties to the finishes, the scaffold was designed so that it could be sequentially lowered to enable the wall finishes to be brought down with it.
Some 90% of the demolished building was recycled, with the ground floor slab and site roads crushed and reused. The local authority was invited to take away any items of use such as door frames and light fittings, while raised access floor panels and carpet tiles salvaged from the structure are being reused in the new building.