Advanced manufacturing facility lands in Wales

The Welsh Government is investing £20M in a flagship development that will improve productivity, skills and innovation across a range of sectors including aerospace and automotive.

Located alongside the Airbus UK manufacturing centre in Broughton, Flintshire, the facility will be managed by the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), who will occupy half the new building, with Airbus taking the other half.

The facility is housed in a large twin-span propped portal frame that measures 80m-long x 60m-wide with a maximum height of 24m. One row of offset internal valley columns separate the main workshop part of the building into two parts, one with a span of 33m and the other 27m.

One end of the structure houses a full-width office block, that is divided in half by an entrance and atrium.

One half of the block is two-storeys high and will accommodate the offices, while the other side is four-storeys and will house further office space on the ground floor, a first-floor canteen and then two upper levels for plant equipment.

Working on behalf of main contractor Galliford Try, EvadX has fabricated, supplied and erected the project’s steelwork.