Renault Distribution Centre
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Super scale portecochere in front of the showroom
Richard Davies Download Original
Renault parts distribution centre incorporating warehouse, offices, training school and showroom under a wide-span canopy roof
The centre was commissioned as Renault's main UK distribution facility. In addition to warehousing, it includes a showroom, training school, workshops, offices and a staff restaurant. The floor area of 25,000m2 is housed within a single enclosure supported by brightly coloured tubular masts and arched steel beams, forming a silhouette within its surrounding landscape.
The structural system that repeats itself to form the external outline is based around a 24 by 24 metre bay developed so as to maximise the planning flexibility of the internal spaces. This as well as the internal height of 7.5 metres, allows the centre to accommodate a range of uses from industrial warehouse racking to its subdivision into office floors.
Enveloped by a continuous PVC membrane roof, pierced by glass panels at each mast, the building is also stepped at one end, narrowing to a single, open bay that forms a porte-cochere alongside a double-height gallery uses as a showroom.
Data
- Begun: 1980
- Completed: Jun 1983
- Floor area: 23,650m2
- Sectors: Industrial, Office
- Total cost: £8.3M
- Address: Basepoint Business Park, Rivermead Drive , Swindon, SN5 7EX, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Foster + Partners
- Project architects: David Morley, Ian Simpson, Julia Barfield, Loren Butt, Mike Stacey, Nic Bailey, Nick Eldridge, Paul Heritage, Paul Jones, Ralph Ball, Roy Fleetwood, Wendy Foster
- Client: Renault UK Ltd
- Quantity surveyor: Davis Belfield and Everest
- Acoustic consultant: Tim Smith Acoustics
- Landscape architect: Technical Landscapes Ltd
- Structural engineer: Arup
- Services engineer: Arup
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