Eco-store, Tesco Southam
"From a customer experience perspective, you cannot tell this is a modular building. The over-cladding has been very effective and customers have been very complimentary about the new store."
The Requirement
Tesco had a requirement for a new eco-store at Southam in Warwickshire. The store had to be constructed as fast as possible to meet Tesco’s deadline for the store opening, without any compromise on the quality of the new store.
The Solution
This project was the UK’s largest retail project to be built using modular construction.
Working closely with main contractors RG Carter, the Yorkon off-site approach reduced the build programme to increase the number of trading weeks by eight to the benefit of Tesco and its customers.
In order to meet the deadline for the store opening, 24-hour factory shifts were employed at the Yorkon production centre in York to manufacture and partially fit out the 70 steel-framed store modules, and the cranage phase included both weekend and night working.
To view a video of the new store and its construction, see www.yorkon.info/tescosoutham.
A New Modular Store Design
The scheme was the first application of a new modular store design, which provides 20,000sqft of retail space, and has uninterrupted spans for the sales areas of 28m, which are unprecedented in the modular industry. This was achieved by reducing internal columns by 50 per cent.
The store design also includes back-of-house, staff facilities and office accommodation on the first floor, and has concrete floors with terrazzo tiling.
How the Building’s Carbon Footprint was Reduced
As an eco-store, the new Southam scheme has a number of sustainability features to reduce its carbon footprint, including:
- Roof-mounted photovoltaic panels to generate electricity
- A high level of glazing to one elevation for natural light
- Sun pipes to the offices and toilets
- Rainwater harvesting
- A lobby area to the main entrance with sliding doors to reduce heat loss
- Timber cladding from sustainable sources
- Mixed mode ventilation
- Air scoops for additional ventilation.
The architects for the project were the Saunders Partnership.
Comments from the Client
Lorraine O’Sullivan, Development Manager, Tesco:
"From a customer experience perspective, you cannot tell this is a modular building. The over-cladding has been very effective and customers have been very complimentary about the new store."
"Off-site construction allows more work to be carried out in a manufacturing environment, improving both quality and the speed of construction on site. This enables Tesco to be faster to market and to open the doors of a new store to our customers more quickly."
Yorkon has worked with Tesco for the past 10 years, delivering around 200 projects, including more than 170 Express convenience and petrol filling station stores in the UK and Ireland, and is the market leader in off-site construction solutions for the retail sector.
