The Brief

With a big rebranding as ‘Your Local Garden Centre’ planned for what was formerly Badger Garden Centre, it was the perfect opportunity for the business to start with a clean slate.

The buildings the wrong sizes, the wrong configurations and extremely dated. It was a case where rebuilding was more sensible and cost effective than refurbishing to the extent that would have been needed to achieve the new garden centre’s goals.

 

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  • Design
    Authentic glasshouse styling

    With lots of natural light from the central glass roof section

  • Deliver
    Complex two phase schedule

    Uninterrupted trading throughout – while customers watched!

The Solution

Newspan were delighted to continue our working relationship with Paul Richards and were on board from the initial planning application, working alongside the architects to help plan and calculate bespoke span widths for the new buildings for maximum efficiency and to make the best use of the space available.

“It was an important part of our design brief that the new garden centre at Mappleborough Green have an authentic glasshouse style rather than feeling at all industrial, which Newspan helped us to achieve by installing a central glass section along the length of the polycarbonate roof, flooding the internal space within with natural light,” explains Paul Richards, a director of Your Local Garden Centre Mappleborough Green. Roof purlins were powder coated in white paint to further enhance the light and bright feel of the interior.

“To enable us to continue to trade, Newspan devised a two phase programme in which the first three bays of the new building and a new planteria were constructed next to the existing glasshouses, separated by a dividing partition,” Paul continues. “Once ready, we moved in and in the second phase of works began with the demolition of the old glasshouses. These were replaced with two further spans before the temporary partition was taken down and the whole of the new building was revealed as one. While work was in progress, windows in the partition enabled customers to see what was going on, increasing engagement with our plans and anticipation for the full opening.

“The all new 200 seat coffee shop, built as part of the second phase, was a crucial part of our business development plan. Large glazed windows at the gable ends afford diners a view over our planteria and The Gardeners’ Kitchen also features outdoor seating beneath a polycarbonate canopy, as well as both internal and external play areas for young visitors to enjoy.

“Overall, since the redevelopment, trade has quadrupled and is still increasing at a rapid rate. We’ve been very impressed with Newspan’s service and they’ll certainly be top of our tender list for all future work.”

Special Projects

Newspan’s structures can be adapted to suit many public access applications.