Supermarket - Tesco Haslemere

"Innovation in construction is of vital strategic importance to Tesco, and we are continually looking at new ways of delivering stores more quickly, efficiently and to the very highest quality standards - to the benefit of our customers."

The Requirement

Tesco wanted to create a fully weathertight building envelope for a new 20,000 sqft superstore at Haslemere in Surrey. This would enable subcontractors to start work on fitting out at an earlier stage whilst the cladding and roof were completed externally. The result would be a significant reduction in programme time and a faster return on investment in the new store for Tesco.

The Solution

Work started on the foundations at the same time as Yorkon began manufacturing the steel-framed modules in York. Less than three weeks after the first units arrived on site, Yorkon had erected the internal envelope for the retail area and the bulk store using their modular Hi-Bay system. The polyester coated steel roof of this system formed the ceiling of the superstore. A secondary pitched roof and external brickwork cladding were necessary to accommodate extensive plant services and to meet the stringent planning requirements.

The "back of house" facilities, including offices, customer toilets, staff cloakrooms and restrooms, were created using Yorkon's Building Module system. Six steel-framed modules were delivered to site complete with floor and wall tiling, partitions, plumbing, complex M&E services, toilet cubicles, suspended ceilings and doors already in place.

According to Yorkon, the experience gained on this pioneering DETR demonstration project has shown that the programme time could be further reduced by an additional seven weeks or better – from 27 to just 16 weeks.

Comments from the Client

Richard Rust, Project Manager, Tesco:

"Innovation in construction is of vital strategic importance to Tesco, and we are continually looking at new ways of delivering stores more quickly, efficiently and to the very highest quality standards - to the benefit of our customers."

"The store at Haslemere was the first time we had used a modular building system for the retail sales area of one of our stores. By manufacturing the modules in Yorkon's factory, we were able to take the building process 'inside', which resulted in superior quality and a four-week reduction in time on site."