Major food companies hire Nottingham architects Cox Freeman for key projects

Nottingham architects Cox Freeman have been cooking up new premises for some of the biggest names in the food sector.

Work is now being completed on the 22,000 sq ft refurbishment of a pizza manufacturing unit for Northern Foods at Lenton Lane, Nottingham.

Work is also due to be finished in early summer on an extension and refurbishment for Samworth Brothers at Bradgate Bakery in Leicester.

Meanwhile, planning permission has recently been granted for a 85,000 sq ft development for bakery giant Greggs in Wiltshire, while a major 75,000 sq ft extension and refurbishment for Greggs in Newcastle is currently underway.

All four schemes were designed by Cox Freeman, which is based in Stoney Street in The Lace Market, and is a leading specialist in the food and associated process industries.

The Newcastle Greggs scheme followed a similar project for the bakery company in Manchester completed in 2009, which was also designed by Cox Freeman.

“We are very pleased to be actively working with a number of major operators in the food and drink sector on a range of projects,” said managing director Chris Boffin.

“Our expertise in this specialist field, where hygiene and healthcare are paramount, has been honed over many years, and these contracts follow earlier work with all three companies. “

Cox Freeman has strengthened its management team in recent times with the appointment of Michael Chrich, Mike Webster and Paul Roberts as associates.

The company, which was established in 1980, works across many sectors including food and drink, education, commercial centres and on private residential projects.

(The accompanying image shows the completed Greggs scheme in Manchester).

www.coxfreeman.com

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Bakery designed by Nottingham architect Cox Freeman rises to the top

A bakery designed by specialist food and drink sector architect Cox Freeman has been named as one of the top 50 buildings built in the East Midlands in the last 50 years.

Pork Farms’ Riverside Bakery was the only building from the 1980s in Nottinghamshire and one of only four from the decade in the region as a whole to make it onto the list compiled by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Built on a brownfield site on the north bank of the River Trent two miles from Nottingham city centre, the building was commissioned by Northern Foods as a factory for producing pork pies and pastries.

When it was opened in 1982 it was regarded as one of the most modern in Europe in design, construction and its ability to comply with stringent EEC regulations for food processing.

“At Cox Freeman, we’re absolutely thrilled that Pork Farms’ Riverside Bakery designed by the company almost 30 years ago has been hailed as one of the top 50 buildings built in the East Midlands over the past 50 years, “ said Chris Boffin, managing director of Cox Freeman, based in Stoney Street in The Lace Market, Nottingham.

“It’s a tremendous accolade to be named on the list, and especially to be one of only a handful of buildings from the 1980s to be chosen. The building was inventive because of its clear span production floor and plant room located within the roof structure. This improved its flexibility and enabled routine maintenance to take place with minimal disruption to the production process.

“The innovation was made possible by the use of modular CUBIC Space Frame roof supported on twelve braced columns around the perimeter with only three internal columns. “

The ‘fifty buildings, 50 years’ project celebrated great modern architecture in the East Midlands over the past five decades, and marked the 50th anniversary of RIBA in the region.

The chosen buildings form the subject of a major exhibition from RIBA that showcases innovative and enduring architecture from the ‘swinging sixties’ onwards. It reveals how architectural creativity is shaped by context, place, culture, social and political trends of the time and, in turn, shapes the identity of the region’s places and spaces. It is being exhibited across the East Midlands over coming months. For details of venues visit the regions’ section of www.architecture.com

Choosing 50 exemplary buildings from 50 years was ‘an incredibly challenging project’ said Nottinghamshire architect Hannah Minton, who chaired the steering group which carried out the intensive short-listing process.

Cox Freeman is a leading specialist in the food and associated process industries, where hygiene and healthcare are essential. The firm has worked for almost every key player in the food sector.

http://www.coxfreeman.co.uk/

http://www.perfect10pr.co.uk/

New director for Nottingham architects and building surveyors Church Lukas

Nottingham architects and building surveyors Church Lukas have strengthened their team with the appointment of a new director.

John Freeman, a chartered architect, brings extensive expertise in the retail, leisure and office sectors, as well as specialist knowledge of strategic facilities management gained as part of an MBA programme. His appointment has been made to help Church Lukas build on its reputation as an award-winning practice.

John, who was previously a director at Stockton-on-Tees architects Listers, joins fellow directors Sue Churchill, Chris Mahony and Andrew Roberts at the Victoria Street offices of Church Lukas, which has been established since 1993 and offers a nationwide service.

“Church Lukas is renowned for its regeneration projects, which have historically been residential-led,” said director Sue Churchill. “We recognised that the retail element of our mixed-use schemes was having a far greater influence on the viability of our projects and knew that being able to offer specialist design skills in this area would be beneficial to both the practice and our clients. John’s expertise in the retail sector, along with his knowledge of property asset management will complement our senior management team.”

His strategic facilities management knowledge is seen as increasingly important, as all businesses respond to the current economic situation and consider efficiencies in their property portfolios.

Chris Mahony, Director of Building Consultancy at Church Lukas, welcomed John’s appointment saying: “We live in a changing world and more and more firms are looking to make the most of their assets, whether by occupying smaller space to reduce running costs or through partial disposal. We are also starting to see far greater awareness of the impact of both rising energy costs and carbon trading following the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme and John’s expertise in these areas will be invaluable. His passion for reducing carbon matches our aim to be a national leader for low carbon buildings in both building surveying and architecture.”

Andrew Roberts added: “John has the very rare ability to be creative, commercial and compliant. He is perfectly positioned to help us expand and deliver our low carbon projects. We are very fortunate to have him join us.”

John began his career as an apprentice joiner with a building contractor near Barnsley before training as an architect at Birmingham School of Architecture. He went on to study for a diploma at the University of Sheffield, while at the same time working for a number of Sheffield practices. He later undertook a training course at Huddersfield University which paved the way to him lecturing at universities in Sheffield and Huddersfield.

John started his professional career in the property department of a major national bank before moving to private practice and specialising in large scale commercial projects.

“Church Lukas is a forward-looking, entrepreneurial practice that has prepared itself for a new economy and is already reaping the rewards. I am excited by the projects that are on the drawing board,” he said.

Since launching 17 years ago, Church Lukas has seen a significant change in its projects, now having a major involvement in research and development for industry-changing housing initiatives alongside its core commercial sectors.

Pictured left to right, Church Lukas directors John Freeman, Andrew Roberts, Chris Mahony and Sue Churchill.