Kites Croft Business Park, Fareham, Hampshire

Client:  Easter Developments in association with Morley Fund Management
Architect:  Hamilton Associates
Quantity Surveyor:  Tweeds Construction Consultancy
Structural Engineer:  Sprigg Little Partnership
Services Engineer:  Halloran Payne Associates and Peter Brett Associates

Set adjacent to National Trust woodland, within a short drive to the M27 motorway, the facility was specifically developed for Estee Lauder to upgrade their distribution and sales network within the UK.

The Distribution Centre facility measures some 160,000 sq ft of floor space for both high bay racking and mechanical picking and packing conveyors. One of the key tasks for McLaren was to co-ordinate the client installation of the above equipment and integrate the complex sprinkler protection within. Dock levelers and scissor lifts serve the 'goods in' and dispatch zone of the building, and a large computer suite acts as the hub of the facility's IT network.

To compliment this facility, a large office suite was required to accommodate over 230 staff, relocated from other facilities. Arranged over 3 floors, the client required 45,000 sq ft of space for high quality finished cellular offices, conference rooms, printing/IT rooms as well as open plan office space, built to achieve strict acoustic attenuation. On the ground floor, a commercial quality kitchen and staff restaurant was designed and built following a period of detailed design development, to ensure the needs of the end user were met. All of the office space required full air conditioning and full sprinkler protection, demanding intense co-ordination at both design and installation stage.
 
The development benefits from an extensive security system with full CCTV camera coverage, intruder detection, and access control.

Externally, the building envelope has a striking appearance using a combination of both composite and built up cladding in a silver finish to the Distribution Centre and office walls, with glazed 'Schuco' curtain walling to the office façade. The external car parking also was designed through close co-ordination with the end user to produce a finish and quality commensurate with the nature of the overall facility.