Amazon undertook a programme to expand its welfare facilities across 15 sites nationwide, with each site valued at between £1-3m. The goal was to improve staff welfare and accommodate an expanding workforce, whilst also aiding social distancing in the workplace due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rollout delivered additional space for welfare, training and canteen facilities through the installation of mezzanine floors.
Our civil engineering and structural teams developed feasibility studies for each mezzanine by assessing the existing floor slabs. We used historic records and site investigations to determine appropriate column positions for each site to ensure floors and foundations were not overstressed, saving costly and time-consuming strengthening works. With sustainability in mind, we also worked to curtail the need for new materials and maximise existing building efficiency.
Close attention was paid to programme and phasing requirements to both minimise disruption to daily work and avoid known busy periods. We worked closely with Amazon site management teams to reduce disruption and support the installation of mezzanine floors in live working environments to successfully meet tight programme deadlines.
Our team worked with the client to deliver the project safely against the challenge of constrained spaces and live environments, whilst limited by the existing building strength and layout of key services. We worked closely with other disciplines, the contractor and subcontractors, to look at alternative arrangements, design methodologies and materials to enable flexible working in tight environments with material supply issues during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Client: Amazon
Architect: SMR Architects
