The Shed – Mercury Park
Mercury Park is a business community close to the village of Wooburn Green in Buckinghamshire. At the beginning of this project, we undertook a number of studies to establish exactly what was both needed and achievable: the best possible build within given constraints, improved quality of life for the people who work there and stronger sustainability principles.
The resulting brief included a new café with seating inside and out, a kitchen for prepping hot food, electric vehicle charging points and covered cycle storage. There were a number of challenges that needed to be worked through. For example, the new block for the café could not encroach on existing parking spaces and already limited landscaped areas, the construction was to have minimal impact on tenants and be completed as quickly as possible.
We carried out much of the manufacturing off-site, specifically structurally insulated panels and glue-laminated beams. This meant ground and superstructure works could be undertaken at the same time while also minimising noise and dust on site. This also ensured a higher quality of construction due to the controlled factory environment. The embodied carbon of the building was kept low with the use of timber cladding and Oriented Strand Board (OSB) for internal finishes.
Careful site positioning meant we removed very few parking spaces and we were able to offset these elsewhere with small modifications to the existing landscape. Position was also important to minimise impact on nearby mature trees and we orientated the building to maximise natural light while also reducing solar gain in the afternoon to reduce overheating and glare.
New landscaping included permeable paving and rain gardens to attenuate and discharge water on site and existing pavers were repurposed for new paved and parking areas.
The new café – The Shed – is a popular destination for Mercury Park tenants, who no longer need to drive off site for food and coffee and can use the space to relax or hold meetings away from the office.
