NFP were approached by a large Construction Company in Kent to help improve facilities at the headquarters. The client was operating out of an old agricultural building which housed both their offices and the machinery workshop for 30 years. The building was central to the site meaning operations and vehicle movements around the building were restricted and inefficient. The offices were developed over time and were spread over multiple levels, creating a challenging working environment. The client wanted a premises to reflect their business today.
After considering preferred working practices, considering the local amenity and understanding the additional space required on a busy site, it was concluded that separating the office and workshop into two different buildings placed in new locations on the site, would enable the business to continue to grow on its existing site.
A new location, currently used as overflow parking, was identified at the front of the site for offices, leaving space for a larger and much more appropriate building for the new workshop to be located on the other side of the yard.
Splitting the buildings this way also enabled the offices to be built and moved into ahead of the demolition of the existing building to make space for the new workshops. This ensured none of the administrative team needed to be moved off site during the works.
The rural location of the site meant careful consideration was needed to conserve the local amenity and the buildings were designed to reflect the original use of the site and be considerate to the landscape.
A good understanding of the local policies allowed a robust justification to accompany the application, meaning a minimal amount of issues during the application process and a minimal number of conditions once the application was approved.
