Stratford upon Avon
Bell Court
Bell Court is located at the very centre of the beautiful, medieval town of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.
Our Client, UK and European, appointed evolve to provide the structural and civil engineering services for public realm enhancements, refurbishment and re-fenestration to existing buildings to form new shops and restaurants, and the construction of a new Everyman Cinema.
Challenge
The scheme covers circa 70,000 sq. ft and retains a 14th century bell which was previously hung from Bell Court and is now reinstalled at the High Street entrance. The existing oak framed entrance portico was transformed into the new bell tower by modifying and strengthening the oak frame.
The evolve team was responsible for both the new building structures and for structural alterations/extensions to the existing buildings on site. The new buildings consisted of a two-storey steel framed building housing Everyman Cinema on the first floor and A3 restaurants at ground level and adjacent two-storey A3 restaurant building. Extensions and alterations to existing steel and concrete framed buildings were all steel framed.
Solution
Evolve first looked at this retail area of Stratford-upon-Avon when UK and European were considering re-development opportunities at this site in the centre of the town.
Due to a lack of record information for the existing buildings, we carried out extensive surveys and investigations to gain a full understanding of the structural arrangements and details to see how they could be adapted to generally upgrade the retail units to suit current tenant requirements.
The study resulted in the demolition of the existing supermarket structure and the construction of a new four-auditoria cinema for Everyman over a series of restaurant units.
Key structural engineering issues included limited head room from planning restrictions and precise detailing to meet acoustic requirements.
Column grids were regularised by working in collaboration with Mountford Pigott to minimise transfer structures between the restaurants and cinema ‘boxes’, thereby minimising structural zones.
We worked closely with Sharps Redmore and the Everyman design team to ensure the acoustic detailing was adequately incorporated into the structural works.
The evolve project team was also responsible for the design of civils work and underground drainage to meet SUDs standards for enhancement to public realm zones.
The development has transformed this part of the Stratford town centre into a lively and vibrant destination for residents and visitors alike.
