Our appointment for an undisclosed international renewable energy client was to act as architect and lead consultant to undertake a number of feasibility studies and put together a full consultancy team for a new headquarters and manufacturing facility within Scotland.

Our initial service involved a full measured survey of the property, before drawings and modelling the existing building, and then working closely with the client’s representatives to develop a full brief which would feed into a number of subsequent diagrammatic zoning layouts and further developed sketch designs.

This would include the reconfiguration of the main visitor and office entrance areas, reception facilities and office accommodation to suit our client’s administrative operations, as well as the adaptation of the large warehouse space to the rear ‘service’ area of the building.

This included new research facilities which required the flexibility to be easily subdivided into 4 smaller temperature controlled laboratories.

To accommodate this additional floor area within the unit, new mezzanine structures were designed to house the labs, as well as staff breakout areas and welfare facilities.

The larger open plan area of the warehouse was to be split into tall, heavy duty ‘dexion’ racking and general storage areas, readily accessed from the research facility areas, as well as through the large vehicular entrance to the rear of the building.

Detailed and well considered design layouts which were presented to the client and their representatives and stakeholders at an early stage ensured that a thorough understanding and appreciation of the cost plan was initiated at the outset of the project, giving budget certainty for each of the design options, and weighing design, budget and planning risk before the rest of the subconsultancy team commenced their appointment.