Inovyn

Inovyn, part of INEOS, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, is benefitting from a new headquarters on its site in Runcorn. The £23m steel framed building is designed by Michael Laird Architects and the main contractor is BAM Construction.

The new grade-A office building is similar to that of its parent company headquarters in Grangemouth. The four storey building will have a predominantly glass frontage supported on a series of pillars. The design required an 18 metre-long, column free, flexible open plan office floor, together with a floor to ceiling curtain wall system to maximise daylight.

The modern office space will be able to accommodate 475 employees, and it was designed to be a flexible workspace to allow several ways of working. The new building will provide employees with amenities that were previously lacking, while the landscaping outside supports the natural environment.

One additional challenge of the new structure was that it had to be blast resistant. A specialist blast engineer was used to review all of the designs, including the steel frame and cladding, looking at potential blast loadings. As such, the building was designed to allow a certain degree of movement. The detailing has been enhanced for blast resilience, as well as the critical elements adjacent to the steel frame’s connections and bracings.

Billington Structures provided the structural steel framework, and as the blast requirements related to both primary and secondary frame elements, we also ensured that the details for all connections met the necessary requirements. In addition to the steel frame, Billington Structures also installed precast stairs and edge protection barriers for this project.

In addition to the main headquarters, a second building was constructed, which will measure approximately 45m-long by 12m-wide. This building will house changing rooms and drying rooms on the ground floor, alongside archive space, a gym, fitness studio and a plant area on the upper floor.