April this year saw the arrival of a new addition to Cross Green Business Park in Leeds: the completed extension to the Premier Motor Auction Halls.
The extension was a £1 million investment for the owners of the company, Scottish Motor Auctions Group, and involved creating a number of new facilities to improve the business and its image. CBM Construction Group Ltd were appointed main contractors on the project, and were responsible for extending the administrational facilities in the existing building through the construction of an internal mezzanine floor housing offices. A new building was also erected to function as a vehicle repair and spray-paint unit.
The latter was a particularly interesting aspect of the building project, as a specialist spray-painting unit was imported from Europe. This operates in a different way to most spray-painting facilities, as a mechanism moves the car on tracks through the paint spray, rather than moving the sprays over the car. The new facility is hoped to speed up spray-painting processes at the premises.
The overall floor area of the Auction Halls is 3057 square metres; it is clad externally in profiled metal, and covered with a flat roof. DJ Curtis and Associates are the architects behind the design.
Externally, CBM were also contracted to create new parking areas for haulage vehicles and a new entrance to the site, where auctions of various different types of cars take place five days a week.
Speaking to Premier Construction on behalf of CBM, Mr Chris Gale explained that one of the most challenging aspects of the building work was carrying out the work safely while the auction halls remained fully open for business.
Speaking for CBM, Mr Chris Gale said “With it being an auction hall which was continuously open, it was an ongoing complication liaising with the Motor Auction administration and with the general public to ensure that everything was safe – we were very health and safety conscious throughout.”
However he reported the project ran smoothly, commenting that ‘work is work: you go in and you get it done’. This echoes the focussed attitude that CBM has to all of its work, which makes the company successful.
CBM Construction are a locally-based firm, but they deliver construction projects throughout the UK for a wide range of clients – from petrol stations to hospitals, road-works to churches – and they have an annual turnover of around £12 million . They pride themselves on delivering quality, client-focussed service and they have been involved in several prestigious developments. Mr Gale explained that “we utilise our own labour force, which allows us to maintain a level of quality control that is more difficult when employing subcontractors.”
CBM Construction were pleased to be once again working alongside the well-established DJ Curtis and Associates, an architectural practice with whom CBM have worked successfully for many years.
