Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) has completed work on two Grade A warehouse units at Leicester Commercial Park, Lubbesthorpe. The £15.75 million project for global industrial property group, Goodman, includes a 336,635 sq ft distribution warehouse with three-storey offices totalling 12,922 sq ft and a 95,978 sq ft warehouse unit with 8,813 sq ft of office space across two floors.
Says Kenny Leadbeater, Associate at SGP:
“Goodman took this strategically located logistics site to market and developed the brief from the established need for larger units. The two buildings are landmarks, providing a dynamic entrance to the park and setting the tone for this high quality development.”
SGP’s design balanced the client’s brief with local planning requirements. Although the site is bounded north to south by the M1 motorway, the east of the site has views to Enderby Hall private apartments across an open Park. To lessen the visual impact of the warehouses, the buildings have been clad in vertical stripes, to provide a dynamic pattern when viewed close up, but from afar the checker pattern emulates the “patchwork” character of the horizon and reduces the perceived volume of the buildings. A tree covered landscape bund further softens the views.
SGP’s design placed the offices on the corners of the main building, addressing the spine road to add interest and aid wayfinding. Projecting out to emphasise the changing of volume, the offices use different materials – timber and glass – to the warehouses but keep the vertical aesthetic. SGP has developed the usual corporate branding of a ‘Goodman Green’ flashing around the front office entrance by pulling this out and away from the main building to create an empty canopy feature.
Continues Kenny:
“The site was delivered to BIM Level 1 and it was extremely beneficial to be able to explore the design with the client through 3d visuals and Virtual Reality. Goodman has a long heritage of providing high quality industrial and logistics property and this scheme continues that with a pair of landmark warehouses that are ready for occupation, built to a fundable standard and provide a quality beginning to the overall commercial park.”
Nigel Doolan, Development Director, Goodman, concludes:
“Leicester Commercial Park offers our customers high quality, Grade A space in an unrivalled location. The design reflects the site’s prominent position, providing a gateway destination for customers wanting to operate from the heart of the UK.”
Both units have been developed to a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ specification and an EPC ‘A’ rating.