T.A.Colbourne, specialist contractors for commercial, industrial and public sector buildings, has experienced a landmark year working on iconic projects, including the prestigious Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) headquarters in Portsmouth.
Works began in October 2014 to construct the steel structure framework and encasing envelope for the building which is home to Britain’s America’s Cup sailing team. The project was completed in record time to meet the tight deadline of the start of the America’s Cup World Series campaign in July 2015.
Drawing on more than 40 years’ experience within the construction industry, the team at T.A.Colbourne (TAC) worked quickly and efficiently with the management company Allied Developments, groundworks contractor J.T. Mackley and fit-out contractor Overbury, part of Morgan Sindall, to complete works within eight months on a project that could usually take around two years to deliver.
Richard Pelley, contracts manager at Allied Developments, said: “T.A.Colbourne has been involved in the BAR project from the outset and has worked hard to achieve their brief within the incredibly tight time constraints on a complicated build with minimal working space.”
Through a competitive tender process, management company Vinci Construction selected TAC to construct the roof and wall cladding systems for the £50 million leisure complex development on Exeter Road in Bournemouth town centre. Situated on the former NCP car park site, work is currently well underway on the West Central development which will house a 10-screen Odeon restaurant, retail stores and restaurants, including Nando’s, TGI Friday’s and Prezzo.
The two companies have worked together successfully on a previous project, the renovation of St Ann’s Hospital in Canford Cliffs, Poole, where TAC built a new entrance, glazed façade, and roof top plant room. Commenting on the appointment, senior project manager of VINCI Construction UK Rod Nutbourne explains: “We appointed T.A.Colbourne to complete the design detailing on this very complex structure primarily due to the previous experience that T.A.Colbourne have on complex structures like this one and through working relationships built with our teams at the recently completed St Ann’s project.”
As the building is overlooked by the Hilton Hotel, the TAC team will be drawing on their vast knowledge of innovative new materials for the wall cladding to ensure the roof blends into the Bournemouth Gardens landscape. The project is scheduled to be finished by the middle of next year.
The company won specialist contracts for three breweries, two based in Dorset; Brewery Square and “The Old Maltings” Hall and Woodhouse Brewery, and a third, Hepworth & Co Brewers Ltd in West Sussex. Award winning producers of craft beer Hepworth & Co Brewers Ltd presented TAC with a contract worth more than half a million pounds for the development of its new brewery with visitor centre in West Sussex.
Due for completion early 2016, the TAC team is working with civil engineering contractor and groundworks and drainage specialists, Landbuild Ltd to carry out the project and is providing the steel structure and shell for the brewery.
Mark Windus, managing director of the main contractor Landbuild Ltd, said: “It’s been great to work with specialists T.A.Colbourne on this project – as specialists in complete building envelope products, we have felt that their expertise has enabled a seamless build overall. The new brewery will give Hepworth & Co three times their current capacity, which will also incorporate a Visitors Centre and shop.”
More than 50 tonnes of galvanised steel, sourced from the Tata Steel plant in Redcar prior to its closure, will make up the structure of the brewery. The company is using specialist cladding to cope with the high levels of humidity in the internal environment created by producing beverages. The panels that form the roof and wall cladding have been specially sourced to allow easy cleaning and to provide resistance to the humidity.
Through a competitive tender process, TAC is providing aluminium rainscreens and features for Phase2B of the Brewery Square shopping and leisure destination in Dorchester. The project is being completed in sections and is an extensive regeneration of the old Eldridge Pope Brewery. TAC will also be building an extension to the Visitors Centre “The Old Maltings” at Hall and Woodhouse Brewery in Blandford. An ultra-modern terracotta rainscreen system is being constructed which has been designed to blend in with the existing Victorian buildings.
Roy Cake, contracts director at Spetisbury Construction, said: “We had seen T.A.Colbourne’s portfolio of work which showcased a real specialism in the blending in of various structures against their existing surroundings and we have successfully completed many varied projects with their team over the past few years.
“Our project to expand ‘The Old Maltings’ included a requirement to fit an ultra-modern terracotta rain screen system which would blend consistently with the existing Victorian buildings – a particular expertise that T.A.Colbourne are able to demonstrate. The quality of the workmanship and the finished building look superb.”
Due to be completed in 2016, both projects feature ‘rainscreens’. These systems are usually designed with an often decorative outer layer, which keeps the rain out, as well as an inner layer to provide thermal insulation, prevent air leakage and to cope with the force of the wind.
Selected from a record number of entrants, the company has been shortlisted for a prestigious industry accolade at the Construction News Specialist Awards. T.A.Colbourne has been chosen as a finalist for the Project of the Year (subcontract over £2M) Award, for the company’s involvement in the build of the Ben Ainslie Racing Building.