The Exchange business park in Ipswich comprises 107,000 sq ft over several units. It benefits from excellent road links and proximity to Felixstowe Port and is home to tenants such as Royal Mail Group.
Through our long standing client Workman LLP, Princebuild were awarded the contract to complete an external refurbishment to nine of the existing units.
The project focused on modernising the units as well as making them more economical. All external cladding was cleaned and sprayed with repairs and replacements undertaken where necessary. The entrance cladding was removed and new feature cladding installed which included glazed canopies for a more modern finish.
The roofing sheets were also cleaned and sprayed, again with repairs being made as required. The GRP roof lights were replaced and Plygene liners installed to all gutters. To complete the aesthetic updated the external windows and doors were decorated and new external timber doors were fitted.

Some brickwork on the exterior skin of the building had previously sustained some impact damage so this was taken down and rebuilt.
In the parking areas, repairs were made to the hard standing, line markings were applied and all street furniture including the bollards and Armco barriers were made good. The exterior floodlights were also replaced.
Due to the industrial use of the units a new full flow retention interceptor was installed along with two bypass separators. This required deep excavations including sheet piling to enable installation.
During these groundworks it was discovered that fibre and BT cables ran through the proposed excavation. Due to this the disconnection of the cables had to be arranged out of hours, the interceptor tank installed, the cables reconnected and tested all during one night shift.
Despite these challenges the project was successfully handed over. The client even added works to the original scope, extending the project, resulting in improvements to an extra five units.