Our client St. Modwen received an invitation from Adidas to compete for a new UK distribution centre to be located on their Trafford Park site in Manchester. The development requirement was for a 400,000 square foot distribution building with over 20,000 square feet of prestige headquarters offices, incorporating a restaurant and wellness centre.
Perhaps the biggest challenge was the timescale; Adidas required an operational building to be delivered within a year.
Our winning design conveyed the aspirations of the brand image; dramatic curved roofs and angled cladding panels created a unique building that also delivered on the technical and functional requirements.
To ensure the project could be delivered in time, work started on-site almost immediately after planning approval was granted. This required the design team to turn around the construction information in a very short period. Our expertise in design and delivery was vital to meeting deadlines while also designing a high-quality building that delivered technically and conveyed the aspirations of the brand image.
“From the start we were impressed by the design of the building, put forward by Roberts Limbrick and St Modwen. It satisfied our concerns for the environment, future flexibility, the wellbeing of our staff and stood out as no ordinary warehouse.”
The completed building covered an area of 400,000 square foot. The distribution area required 14 metres of clear height space, mezzanines and 175,000 square foot of 21 metre high ‘black-box’ storage complete with a fully automated, computerised picking system. External requirements included a security gatehouse, controlled access, 17 dock levellers, two level access loading doors, 60 lorry parking spaces plus car parking for 246 cars. The entire design and build was delivered in an exceptionally fast 33 weeks.
The eye-catching design was described by the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) as ‘one of the best buildings of its type that they had ever reviewed’.
