Services:
- Civil engineering
- Structural engineering
Key facts:
Client: Dransfield Properties Ltd
Project: Sewer Infrastructure Development
Contract Value: £25 million
Met Consultancy Group (Met) were contracted to deliver the civil, structural and drainage elements of the Marshall’s Yard project (a redevelopment of an 8 acre brownfield site in the centre of Gainsborough). The site was transformed from the Britannia Engineering Works into a multi-million pound retail, leisure and commercial development.
Marshall’s Yard originally formed part of the Britannia Engineering Works, founded in Gainsborough in 1848, by William Marshall. At its peak the Britannia Engineering Works occupied 16 acres and exported portable steam engines, threshing machines and agricultural machinery all over the world.
The redevelopment of this site provided a mixture of high quality retail outlets, office space, leisure facilities and public open space. The former history of the site meant English Heritage required certain elements and details on site be retained and incorporated into the final design.
Met were contracted as the civil and structural engineers for the project and worked closely with English Heritage to retain the fabric of some of the key features of the site. This included:
- Design solutions to refurbish some of the existing structures in order to make them suitable for their future use
- Steelwork was used to strengthen the existing masonry structures and to provide support for the new upper floors that were introduced into them, and
- Inspect and strengthen roof trusses as the majority of the roof structures had deteriorated over the years.
The new-build structures needed to blend in with the existing buildings which have large brick facades incorporating feature courses and arches. Met worked closely with the Architects and specialists to detail the brickwork to ensure the structural integrity of the retained facades. Behind these retained facades, new steel frames were introduced to support the floors and roofs of the new buildings.
Met designed all of the underground drainage for the new development, where the use of symphonic roof drainage, and the requirement for a ground floor swimming pool within the JJB Health and Fitness Centre, proved extremely challenging and resulted in large peak flows. Met designed and detailed on-site attenuation and storage to control and reduce the peak flow from the site.
This project offered Met the opportunity to work with large scale new and existing structures. The aim was to provide an economic engineering solution that didn’t detract from the aesthetic appearance of Marshall’s Yard.