Phased renovation of three-story petrochemical laboratory facility and conference center.
Location: Kirkby, United Kingdom
Size: 52,500 GSF
Delivery Method: Design-Build
Construction Type: Renovation
Challenge
Built in the early 1900s, the original buildings of Baker Hughes’ Kirkby, UK operations required major improvements in laboratory working processes, capacity, and critical EH&S measures. The client needed a design solution that would keep the labs operational during construction, since the building serviced the entire eastern hemisphere.
Solution
Intense early programming efforts with lab users and plant managers helped us gain an understanding of lab to plant process interaction. Our design team modeled multiple phasing options for the intensive MEP reconstruction process. The resulting design features a new centralized mechanical mezzanine, seven large, open-concept labs with views to natural light, and an organization that promotes connectivity with office and visitor areas. The project also added a newly visible and well-branded main visitor entry, new H2S, microscope, and flow laboratories, and bulk gas tanks outside the building for the new manifolded piping system.