Banbury 200 is a substantially refurbished existing warehouse facility which offers potential tenants a total footprint of 199,724sqft. The site is located just north of Banbury town centre, mid-way between Birmingham and London, within easy access to junction 11 off the M40, making it ideal for warehouse/distribution purposes. At the same time being within a 45 minute drive of 1.5 million people, makes the building appropriate for research, development and/or office purposes.
UMC Architects were initially appointed by Graftongate and Paloma Capital to explore feasibility options for the refurbishment of the building with the primary objective being to regenerate the site to a high level of design with improved functionality, whilst contributing to employment within the local area. Though the building is largely screened from the public realm by existing vegetation and level changes, the aim for Graftongate and Paloma Capital was to achieve a cohesive design approach and create a clean contemporary set of elevations with a feature office element to the prominent southern corner. This required the design to be responsive to the existing context in terms of built form and land uses whilst creating the required level of security and operational functionality, which would make the unit attractive to future potential End Users.
The building appearance was transformed with envelope over-clad and re-roofed, to extend the building lifespan and bring the envelope performance towards current day requirements, whilst also providing a sustainable and more contemporary appearance. The existing external fabric of brickwork and green cladding was re-clad with a mix of micro-rib and trapezoidal cladding profile with a colour palette of mid to light greys to reduce the visual impact of the building massing.
The functionality of the building was increased with existing defective doors removed and replaced by fully operational doors, whilst external spaces were optimised to increase vehicle circulation space and parking capacity for both cars and HGV’s.
UMC Architects coordinated the planning application, which comprised a change of usage to include B1 (Business/Offices), and B2 (General Industrial) uses whilst also undertaking the detailed Architectural design alongside Main Contractor Quantum Construction Ltd.
