Kingspan helps Slough Estates deliver

Kingspan Insulated Panels has played an important role in helping developer Slough Estates cut down construction time on speculative buildings.

Kingspan Insulated Panels has played an important role in helping developer Slough Estates cut down construction time on speculative buildings.

By using Kingspan panels rather than their usual built up system, the developer saved 4 weeks on the cladding alone, enabling a 2,394 sq m (25,769 sq ft) warehouse to be built in just 9 weeks.

Slough Estates is developing what it calls RAPIDSPACE - a new, fast response service that creates an entirely new building from nothing, in just weeks.

"RAPIDSPACE has been developed in response to an increasing number of demands from customers for a building that meets their specific needs - but fast," comments Graeme Steer, Development Manager of Slough Estates.

"Customers these days want their buildings in a hurry." The first, experimental RAPIDSPACE building was undertaken speculatively, at 381 Sykes Road in Slough.

The 2,394 sq m (25,769 sq ft) production/warehouse unit was completed in just 16 weeks from start on site (this includes demolition).

With a clear eaves height of 7m, 28 car parking spaces, two electrically operated loading doors and a secure yard, the building has a high specification - and the flexibility of adding office space as the customer requires, which can be added within two weeks.

"The Sykes Road project set out to prove that, working closely with our contractors and suppliers, we could deliver a high quality building fast," says Graeme Steer.

"We achieved just that, without cutting any corners".

"In combination with our Simplified Planning Zone status, which means there is no need to wait for planning permission, we are ready to deliver".

"It is clear we will be offering customers our "made to measure" RAPIDSPACE service more and more in the future." The cladding and roofing was a key factor in achieving that reduction in construction time.

A traditional built up system would have taken approximately 8 weeks to install, but it took just 4 weeks to place and fix the Kingspan panels.

The building has Kingspan's KS1000 RW Panels on the roof and KS1000 WAVE architectural panels on the walls.

It was the first time that Slough Estates has used Kingspan panels on one of its buildings, and the company was very impressed".

"The panels certainly played a vital role in cutting the construction time, without compromising the quality or visual impact of the building in any way," says Andrew Pooley, Project Manager of Slough Estates.

""We achieved an air leakage test of sub 3m3/hr/m2, when building control requires 10".

"The coordination between Kingspan, Slough Estates and the contractors was excellent, and enabled us to make these great savings in record time".

"In the long run it also works out as a much more cost-effective solution for us." Following the success of the Sykes Road project, Slough Estates is looking at specifying Kingspan panels for its next RAPIDSPACE project - a much larger development of 30 units in Portsmouth.

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