SSDA 2018 A W A R D
Innovation, collaboration and the
wellbeing of people at the facility are
said to have shaped the success of this
building.
The simple layout of Jaguar Land Rover’s
Engine Manufacturing Centre is said to have
been derived from optimum operational
adjacencies. It was designed for flexibility,
providing both an efficient process flow and
giving staff easy access to support facilities.
Naturally-lit machine and assembly
halls are flanked by supporting office and
ancillary buildings. This approach optimised
production performance and blurred the
boundaries between production and offices
through visual transparency.
A powerful architectural impression was
generated through the simple, repeating
and discretely expressed façade modules,
generated by the north lights. These
skylights provide generously day-lit spaces
throughout the complex and continuous
strips of glass along the ground floor,
allowing the building to float, further
humanising the scale of the spaces while
providing views out to the landscaped
surroundings.
The 100-acre site, formerly used for
landfill and sewage sludge disposal, was
remediated in an enabling works package
including soil/cement ground stabilisation
across the footprint of the buildings. This
enabled the use of simple pad footings and
ground-bearing slabs, designed to support
the heavy production loads within stringent
settlement criteria.
The steel design comprises braced steel
frames, with grids set by the bay sizes of the
production areas below. Concept studies
explored grid size with the client and
compared the option of a portal solution,
however the braced frames were considered
the cheapest solution.
The north lights are formed by using
the primary 30m span trusses to minimise
intrusion of the structure into the
production spaces and thereby minimise the
building height.
The machine hall uses a grid of 30m
× 15m, matching the rhythm of the north
lights. The assembly halls have a grid of
30m × 30m, at twice the rhythm of the
north lights, so primary support trusses
are provided below the north lights on
each 30m grid to support the intermediate
primary trusses.
Secondary trusses are provided at 7.5m
centres. These grids provide for future
reconfiguring of the assembly lines.
Mezzanine floors provide support
accommodation and plant spaces, using
reinforced concrete slabs constructed on
profiled metal decking, providing robust fire
separation for plant spaces.
The mezzanine floor beams were
designed as ‘L’ beams, in order to provide
flexibility to accommodate openings in the
future.
“The steel frame design provided both
a flexible structural system and an ordering
device from which the façade elements were
structured. The steel structure also enabled
the light infused machine and assembly halls
to be realised,” says Arup Senior Architect
Sean Macintosh.
“The system was critical to the fast track
delivery of the project and to realising the
sustainability goals for the project. The steel
frame forms an armature for the saw tooth
roof that supports the extensive PV arrays,
provides the framing for the roof light,
providing natural ventilation to the office,
and forms a bridge, joining sections of the
master plan above an ecological corridor
that runs across the site. These innovations
were made possible by utilising the most
appropriate and efficient structural solution
in steel.”
Jaguar Land Rover’s commitment to
16 NSC
October 18
Jaguar Land Rover
Engine Manufacturing
Centre
This BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated facility comprises
165,000m2 of production space, offices, social
support areas and a community educational centre,
making it an exemplar of modern sustainable
manufacturing.
FACT FILE
Architect: Arup
Structural engineer: Arup
Steelwork contractor: Severfield
Main contractor: Interserve Construction Ltd
Client: Jaguar Land Rover
P R O J E C T
O F T H E
Y E A R
/Single_storey_industrial_buildings#Flexibility_and_adaptability
/Trusses#North_light_truss
/Braced_frames
/Concept_design#Floor_grids
/Trusses
/Single_storey_industrial_buildings#Mezzanines
/Steel_construction_products#Decking_for_floors
/Design
/Sustainability