The Directors of Rame Consulting Limited were appointed to act as Project Manager to Gazeley UK Limited for a 40 acre site in Rugeley, Staffordshire. The site was already owned at the time of appointment. A review of the technical due diligence was undertaken, and further site investigations were commissioned to allow design work to commence. The scope of works included the diversion of a primary 1,200mm storm sewer set at a depth of approximately 9m; which formed a significant enabling works package which was run in tandem with the foundation installation at the other end of the site. The site was overlain with a significant amount of Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA); therefore careful consideration was needed regarding the sharing of construction risk during inclement weather. Works included the completion of adjacent estate roads, the delivery of the utility and drainage systems from off park points of connection, and the design and construction of the speculatively developed building of 690,000 sq.ft.
Engineering was key to the success of the scheme. The need for significant diversion of a large surface water sewer, the delivery of a large engineered earth acoustic bund, as well as on site laboratory analysis allowing immediate assessment of work within the PFA area allowed engineers to make swift, informed decisions; and provided an audit trail for future tenants and purchasers of the development process.
The building perimiter was in the region of 1.2km.
At the time of construction, the building was the largest speculatively developed logistics building in the UK.
The scheme was part of a wider portfolio development by Gazeley across the UK.
