The Challenge
The Record Store development is located adjacent to the mainline railway and extensive discussions with Network Rail were needed to secure the permissions needed to allow the refurbishment of the historic art-deco facades to be carried out. The retained building was an early example of a concrete framed structure which needed extensive repairs and carefully considered engineering to allow the installation of a new central core to adapt and modernise the building.
The complex infrastructure and landscaping package was phased to incorporate new district service distribution across the site and strategic delivery of new statutory service connections around an already congested and unknown spaghetti of live and defunct connections.
Careful consideration of sustainability issues, including long-term viability of the building, affordable heating sources and service adaptability fed into the site wide strategy and the design and delivery of The Powerhouse was critical to achieving the Client’s site wide project aims.
The Outcome
The Record Store’s vast open plan stores have been extended and reinvented to provide 85,000 ft² of commercial space over 6 storeys. The floorplates benefit from extensive natural light and 3.5 m floor to ceiling heights, whilst the historic façades, not seen in their original state since before the war, have been restored to their former glory.
The Powerhouse has been transformed and repurposed into a modern energy centre which provides heat, hot water and power to the neighbourhood with surplus energy being sold back the grid.