Shurgard Roll Out Projects

Since 2014, Shurgard have been constructing storage facility buildings throughout London, in a roll-out project. The booming self-storage market in London means opening new stores and increasing their capacity is priority for Shurgard, looking to establish a share in this very competitive market. Key to this is having a well integrated design team able to deliver projects quickly to site and work with contractors to allow them to meet the programme aspirations.

The design proposals are similar for each of the sites, in that buildable space is maximised to generate the best rate of return for the storage units. To deliver on programme and space, steelwork framed building structures, typically 3 – 6 storeys are constructed with internal mezzanine floors. The expansion of the storage market has saw 6 new build stores and two extensions in the last 3 years being developed, throughout the London area. The various planning authorities and different surroundings mean that for Shurgard to make maximum use of each site, each store has a very different architectural and structural form, requiring a bespoke design solution each time.

Working in tight urban sites also presents some unusual challenges. As well as building adjacent to rail assets on many of the sites, on Woolwich, the building was positioned over two Crossrail tunnels, which tailored the piled foundation solution. Using our range of experience of piling techniques, we proposed a helical piled slab solution which provided the required load capacity within the limited depth, keeping outwith the exclusion zone around the tunnels. Similarly on Park Royal, where a ‘no-build’ zone was demarcated for a large diameter sewer, this led to the 4.5m building overhangs, being suspended from projecting roof structure, creating an interesting structural concept with great Architectural success.