Project Description
Distribution Warehouse and Offices
Headquarters for a European distribution network. The brief for the project was for a striking building with a clean visual appearance and a welcoming entrance area.
Elements that may have given rise to minor enclosures dotted around the site (i.e. plant spaces, cycle stores and the like) have been designed to be included in the overall envelope of the building. The main cladding material is Corus ‘Arcline’ coated steel laid horizontally to help to reduce the apparent scale of the building and parapet detail emphasises linearity. Areas around the office and loading doors are clad in a gridded flat panel to give some punctuation, and the stair and entrance lobby area is expressed as an ‘outrigger’ to the main structure to provide additional modelling, bring down the scale, and signal the change from warehouse to office. At the entrance, the ‘outrigger’ wall to the stair wall is clad in pre-patinated zinc with large glazed openings with frames coloured to match. The natural texture of the zinc provides a contrast with the machined steel cladding at the point where visitors encounter the building. Aluminium framed fenestration to offices is colour coated in the clients corporate pale blue colour, contrasting with the silver/silver grey cladding
