THE PROJECT
Latham Timber is one of the largest independent distributors of timber in the UK. Due to increased demand an extension was required to their existing distribution centre and alterations to provide additional office space.
The 1,500m² extension was connected to the existing building whilst operations continued unaffected. The new build was completed and final connections and breakthrough made at the end of the construction phase to ensure a weatherproof enclosure was maintained.
An existing mezzanine structure was extended above to enable additional administration space and board room to be provided. Due to the scarcity of matching cladding materials at the time, the Covid-19 lockdown and war in Ukraine, Beard and Latham worked together to have early orders placed to reserve delivery of materials to suit the construction programme.
The distribution centre was in use 24 hours a day for 6 days a week and this continued throughout the 20-week construction period.
£1.17M
CONTRACT VALUE
29 WEEKS
CONTRACT DURATION
Customer
Latham Timber Ltd
Architect
Avison Young
Quantity Surveyor
Avison Young
Form of Contract
JCT Intermediate
with CD 2016
The new facility was needed as a matter of urgency. To speed the process a 2-Stage tender was used. Beard were able to introduce specialist suppliers directly to Latham at an early stage so that early orders could be placed to fix price and delivery slots.
The whole works were carried out whilst the adjoining distribution centre remained live 24 hours a day. Beard worked closely with Latham to agree logistics plans and delivery schedules so both operations continued unhindered.
Due to the quick start a number of connection and fire details for the office space were unfinished. Beard introduced the specialist supply chain needed to complete the design in an open book manner under a Contractor Design Portion. This element of design was extended during the construction phase by agreement with Beard to help maintain momentum.
