Offices, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter

This building fronts a large portal-framed industrial unit. The front section was originally a single storey, flat roofed building housing the reception and offices for the company. The project involved the retention of the original structure, keeping the flat roof intact, and constructing an elaborate second storey over it.

I designed a steel frame to support the additional structure, which was supported on new foundations underpinned below the existing footings. The steel frame was tied into the main portals, which were also modified. The curved steel ‘bridge’ at first floor level was formed from a series of interlinked steel beams, with the curved cladding attached by means of varying lengths of steel stub sections.

A steel framed mezzanine floor was also constructed within the main portal-framed area, behind the front extension. Much of the work on this involved carefully detailed connections between timber and steel components, much of which is now hidden within the structure.