Candle House
Leeds
Stage One

When the ground floor retail unit became available for purchase our client proposed a plan to create a ground level retail unit whilst maintaining a full mezzanine floor plate in  which to relocate their own practice from nearby.

Winning this commission through competitive tender, the difficult nature of the site and its working restrictions were well understood by us. Our pre tender analysis had identified hotels, bars, offices, restaurants and residential neighbours, a single lane shared access road and further limitations caused by the necessity to cross an historic canal bridge with limited loading capacity. Add to this the protection of high quality finishes and the need for high quality communications with the wider site management community and tenants and this was becoming a challenging commission.

Due to the complex shape of the building the proposal included the installation of a new steel and in-situ poured concrete structure within the ground floor clear storey.  All to be completed in just five weeks from instruction to ensure that tenant negotiations weren't impacted.

Work progressed perfectly to plan with external viability, noise and disruption maintained to a critical minimum.  All site operations, material storage and waste / welfare facilities were all maintained within the curtilage of the property except for pre planned deliveries for key events.

Stage One of this project was complex and involved heavy and dangerous operations in a confined and busy operational area. Our strict control and great relationships saw the project complete on time and on budget without a single complaint. We are delighted to say that we are now negotiating Stage Two.

Role: Construction
Client: Architecture 519
Designer: Architecture 519
Structural Engineer: Acuity Consulting
Value: undisclosed