We provided structural engineering consultancy services for the large extension to the advanced manufacturing facility at Hethel, near Wymondham in Norfolk. The building comprises a two storey 40,000 sqft extension to the existing facility and provides 16 new starter units for manufacturing firms.
Each unit comprises a 11m x 11m x 5m high ground floor manufacturing workshop with a 1st floor office. The new building connects to the existing via a single storey link that including a plant room and WC facilities.
The structure comprised a braced steel frame on a typical 11m x 5.5m grid. 11m long, 300mm thick precast concrete hollowcore floor slabs were provided for the first floor structure, specified with a high quality internal finish for the exposed concrete soffit. The roof structure was provided as a steel structural deck. The building is clad in a combination of composite cladding panels and timber cladding. A long span steel brise soleil structure is also provided across the southern elevation of the building. The building is supported on traditional pad foundations and a high specification industrial floor slab has been provided.
The building has been designed to incorporate a number of sustainable features including natural ventilation and a biomass boiler using waste generated by the occupants to provide heat and power. A materials recycling rate of 92% was achieved by reuse of plasterboard, timber, metal and excavated soil.