London & South East

Kent County Council office refurbishment is now complete

WW Martin (Thanet) Ltd. have completed a £3.25m refurbishment of Doubleday House on St Michaels Close in Aylesford, Kent. The newly refurbished building will provide much needed office space for Kent County Council’s Highway Department.

The project has comprised the refurbishment of the existing three-storey concrete frame structure. Due to the client’s wish to retain the original structure, the building was stripped down to the concrete frame and then rebuilt with external cladding and a complete internal refurbishment, including: all new mechanical and electrical works, stud partioning, flooring, new suspended ceilings and plumbing. The exterior finish of the building is composite metal Kingspan cladding, with a contrasting window curtain walling scheme.

Renewable energy has been supported wherever possible and efficiency was one of the key concepts of the design. Methods such as the installation of energy efficient lighting and the monitoring of carbon, electric and gas use have ensured that the building is working to the highest levels of efficiency.

The entire building is protected by a detection and alarm system, whilst external landscaping has comprised a security fence that extends across the entire perimeter, a tree area, a small park area, the planting of shrubs and extensive hard landscaping to create a yard for Ringway Highway Services Ltd.

In addition, a salt barn has been constructed for Ringway Highway Services Ltd., along with an additional steel-framed store. The external yard consists of 4,500 m² of external concrete.

The project began in October 2010 and is nearing completion.

David Barker from WW Martin (Thanet) Ltd. said: “The challenge for us was meeting the client’s request to keep the existing concrete structure. The previous frame had been there for thirty to forty years and so there were issues regarding it being out of line and unlevel.

“However, we are more than pleased to have worked with Kent County Council once again and we are delighted with the finished building.”

WW Martin (Thanet) Ltd was formed in 1855 and their annual turnover is between £24m and £25m a year. Their contracts range from commercial housing work to works for Kent County Council and they have both a major projects side and a small works side. Their 135 directly employed staff include craftsmen, apprentices and trainees whilst their in-house trades include carpenters, painters and decorators, plumbers and labourers.

WW Martin currently work in partnership with Kent County Council providing a comprehensive service including schools, fire stations, libraries, adult education centres and social services, throughout East Kent.

Other projects that WW Martin have recently been involved in include: Rose Street School, Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, Swanscombe Children Centre and the Wyvern School in Ashford.

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