'Zeds'
Modular Hotel Pod System

Status Value Completion Structural Engineer Service Engineer Fire Engineer Contractor

Fabrication 25 sqm each March 1999 Alan Baxter Associates Ove Arup and Partners Jeremy Gardner Associates Commercial Systems International

We were commissioned by Hamstead Securities to develop a standard product comprising a two room unit with its associated services. The units must be able to be linked horizontally and vertically. The concept is to use the units as medium term temporary accommodation on high turnover sites throughout the world. After the first prototype units had been completed and installed at a private exhibition in London, a hotel chain invested in the project and the first small hotel is under construction.

Carcass & Services

An application has been registered for a world wide patent to cover the stress skin structure of the hotel pod. Pre-galvanized sheet steel is the main material used to form stiffness in the skin itself. The unit has to be waterproof during transport and erection therefore the detailing of the structure is critical. All services are installed in the factory. Each room has a prefabricated services stack which enables a simple 'plug' connection between the pods. The shower room itself is fabricated separately to the structural carcass and slid into place when complete. The nature of the design virtually eliminates the possibility of error during any stage of installation.

Cyber Café
Ladbrokes HQ

Status Value Completion

Complete £7,500 June 1999

Ladbrokes wished to provide their staff with a 'Cyber Cafe' within the existing restaurant at it's headquarters in North London. The design means installation takes only a matter of hours, causing little disruption to everyday office work.

Internet Switch Station
Clichy, Paris

Status Area Value Completion Structural Engineers Services Engineers Project Managers

Building Permit 28,000 sqm £40 million February 2001 Alan Baxter Associates Troups Bywaters Andrews Associates Waterfields Tech SARL

The new reception building will be fabricated in three sections and transported to site by lorry virtually complete. The restrictive site conditions together with the tight timetable dictated this approach. The quality of finish achievable under factory conditions will be exploited to its full potential given our experience of prefabricated buildings.

Prefabricated Toilet Pods
Amsterdam

Status Area Value Completion Structural Engineers Services Engineers Project Managers

Building Permit 28,000 sqm £47 million February 2001 Alan Baxter Associates Troups Bywaters Andrews Associates Waterfields Tech SARL

Amsterdam Switch is the second in a number of internet switch centres which will be built around the world in the coming years. The Amsterdam project involves the conversion of an existing building to meet the standards required by an internet switch station. Part of these requirements necessitate an independent power source for the whole site. The proposed 'energy farm' is to be housed in a dramatic sweeping enclosure which provides a striking backdrop to a new reception and staff gardens. Prefabrication technology is again being used in several areas of the building to speed the process of construction and provide high quality finishes to areas such as toilet blocks.

Market Stalls
Bradbury, N16

Status Value Completion Structural Engineer

Complete £130,000 July 1999 Price and Meyers

Ten prefabricated market stalls constructed in Hull and transported too North East London for installation. The simple form of each stall belies the complexity of the folded sheet steel cladding system which has no visible fixings. The units are the second phase of a community initiative to support small businesses in the Dalston area.

RAC Technology Centre
Bescot, Birmingham

Status Area Value Structural engineer Services engineer Construction Manager Quantity Surveyor

Project stopped at planning stage 720 sqm £1 Million Alan Baxter Associates Whitby Bird and Partners Bovis Construction Bovis Construction

The RAC commissioned us to design a technical centre to house inspection bays, seminar rooms, classrooms and 350 sqm of office space for the technical library. The step in the elevation at first floor level and the 'sawtooth' roof-lights create a visual identity for what is the cheapest and usually most anonymous of building types.

Holiday Villas
Abaco, Caribbean

Status Area Value Completion Site Architect Structural Engineer

Detailed Design 250 sqm 250 000 Rand December 2000 Peter Holmes Associates Alan Baxter Associates

A pre-fabricated system to construct holiday villas on an island in the Caribbean. A more conventional framed structure has been adopted rather than the stressed skin solution developed for 'Zeds'. This decision was made following a detailed assessment of the demands these units will be put under and the requirements of the client. As each commission is unique so must each response be equally unique.