Retail Store, Long Hanborough

SIMPSON design of the civil and structural engineering allowed this new store to be created into open countryside off a busy highway junction and on a steeply sloping site. SIMPSON’S dialogue with the Highway Authority allowed the local road network to be re-modelled so that the planners could grant consent on a hitherto locked and abandoned site. Delivery lorry access was designed by making use of the full length of the site so that gradients and turning circles could be integrated into the architectural vision for the site despite the steep gradients. This was then reflected in the structural design by adopting a steel frame with extended columns, a suspended ground floor and voids to prevent perimeter retention at the building. The countryside location was acknowledged by the structural design of timber trusses across the store entrance.