The Foundry

The Foundry was designed from the inside out. The client's production line — its clearances, loadings, and power demand — was modelled first, and the building was drawn around it: a clear-span steel portal frame, a power-floated floor slab specified to the line manufacturer's flatness tolerance, and craneage allowed for in the structure from day one.

Design and build under one contract meant the steelwork was being fabricated while the foundations were being poured. The frame went up in three weeks; the envelope followed in six.

Production equipment was installed and commissioned directly off the back of practical completion, with no remedial works standing between handover and the first production run. The facility has operated continuously since.