We provided civil and structural engineering consultancy services for the construction of a new operations centre in Great Yarmouth to support the Dudgeon Wind Farm located off the North Norfolk coast.

The former warehouse, 75m long by 35m wide, on the south bank of the river harbor was completely redeveloped to accommodate offices and a dedicated 24/7 control room to manage the operations and maintenance of the £1.5 billion Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm. Facility is used by more than 70 people who work full time undertaking the operation and maintenance of the wind farm at the onshore base or at the offshore site.

As part of the development a new two storey, 1200m2 office block was constructed within the shell of the existing warehouse structure. The existing ground slab to the warehouse was identified and proven to have a relatively high load bearing capacity and therefore we developed an innovative solution using a lightweight steel framed structure with spreader beams to distribute the load over the existing slab, avoiding the requirement for costly foundations. The existing external cladding was partially replaced to the office area of the warehouse to provide enhanced aesthetics and thermal performance. Some modifications were required to the existing warehouse portal framed structure including changes to vertical bracing to form an improved appearance behind the new large window openings.

The development is located within Flood Zone 3 and we prepared a flood risk assessment, drainage strategy and flood evacuation plan for the site. It was also necessary to design the new office structure to incorporate flood resilient design.   

A new car park was constructed incorporating a tanked permeable block paved system was used with attenuated flow to the offsite drainage system.