Investment at the BDC
22 Oct 2007
The Business Design Centre unveiled its new £1.3 million roof in a ‘topping out’ event held last week. All partners involved in the project were invited to the celebration when the final parts of scaffolding were removed following the completion of this huge job.
The project, managed by Peter Clenshaw, Group Services Director of the Business Design Centre, took place over a total of 7 months in the summers of 2006 and 2007, and was carried out in conjunction with Simon Powell Architects and Letchworth Roofing.
The BDC made the decision to replace the entire roof as the old rooflights were becoming less efficient where ageing had reduced their natural daylight transmittance. Insulation to the whole roof also needed updating for environmental and sustainable reasons, which are key to the company’s business objectives.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget, a great achievement for all involved considering the size of the job and the challenges the project posed, which included;
- Tight time constraints to minimise the disturbance to the BDC’s exhibition programme. All work affecting the inside of the building had to be completed within a six week window each year.
- Developing proposals to reduce heat loss, improve the natural daylight within the building and maintain the original building’s overall style to meet the requirements of local preservation groups.
- The need for a stringent Health and Safety plan to protect all users of the building as well as Letchworth Roofing operatives.
Peter Clenshaw, commented. “The BDC’s business is to host major events and be a landlord to a wide range of businesses. Therefore ensuring ‘event downtime’ and disruption to our tenants were kept to a minimum was an essential part of this project, in addition to the construction of a significantly better performing roof. The project went extremely well and we are delighted with the results. We have already had a huge amount of positive feedback from our permanent tenants, event organisers and visitors to the venue.”
