CONVERTING A 19TH CENTURY TRAIN DEPOT IN LEEDS

UK railway network owner and infrastructure manager, Network Rail, awarded Buckingham Group Contracting the design and build of a new two-storey office and 60m x 29m storage building at their existing Maintenance Delivery Unit (MDU) in Holbeck.

The depot, which is off Nineveh Road in the district of Holbeck, has been there since the 19th century servicing steam trains and storage of machinery up until 1985 when all locomotives were moved to other depots in the area. Since then, it has been used as a storage facility and office space for rail workers.

The new development at the MDU was developed to provide a modern facility for the Network Rail operational staff in the Leeds area, along with increasing the capacity and efficiency of the Holbeck site.

For the mezzanine floors, traditional material was considered but ground structural issues needed to be overcome and traditional material was deemed as unsuitable based on the structural assessment. Furthermore, as this project required support in structural stability to achieve suitable insulating standards, it was discovered that this project would require a lightweight material which offered specific compaction rates and ease of delivery.

Leca LWA was specified as a lightweight fill with the purpose of raising mezzanine levels. Due to the limited access a lightweight solution was required, which offered easy offloading and limiting the weight impact. 270m3 of LECA LWA was delivered on walking floors through the original shed doors into multiple piles. The material was then bladed out and compacted, where a wacker plate was used to help to compact the material before a cast concrete floor was applied.

The new development now offers new space provision including office space, mess areas, showers, locker rooms, plant room, meeting rooms, break out space, control rooms, walkways and stores facilities.