Shed of the Month: Big and Beautiful
There is no doubt that GLP’s latest speculative offering is both big, and dare it be said: beautiful. It typifies what a nationally significant logistics facility right in the heart of the Golden Triangle should be and is unapologetic about it.
By Liza Helps, Property Editor, Logistics Matters
MPN 761, Westland Way, Magna Park, Lutterworth, LE17 4UE
Developer: GLP
Architect: Chetwoods
Contractor: Winvic
Letting Agents: DTRE and Cushman & Wakefield
Unit Size: 761,361 ft2
Power: 2MvA immediately available plus 100% PV ready roof
Sustainability: BREEAM Outstanding and EPC A+
Right now, this cathedral-like space is empty, and it glows with the sunshine pouring in from the rooflights far above and as the finishing touches are put in place there is a silence that is almost reverend – until it is rudely interrupted by the sound of various alarms being tested.
While there has already been an agents’ launch only a few weeks ago there are still a few tweaks here and there to fully complete the building prior to official handover.
Gazing down from the plant deck towards the far end of GLP’s latest XL big box, it doesn’t seem THAT big – until you notice a lone worker walking towards you in yellow hi-vis – he is very, very, small and it takes him a long time to walk the length of the 383m building past serried ranks of dock and level access doors.
With its 18m eaves height the space is enormous. Fully racked out the cross dock building could accommodate up to 105,872 pallet positions on a wide aisle layout or 142,70 pallet positions on a narrow aisle layout.
On each side there is a two storey transport hub set half way down length of the building with five level access doors and 44 dock levellers of which four are large dock doors with clerestory windows above the dock leveller areas adding light enhancing that sense of space.
As GLP’s largest speculative building to date in the UK, it has been built to last and that means that despite its size it has been designed to be as flexible as possible. The sheer height of the building allows for multiple mezzanine levels, and the amount of floorspace allows for multiple racking configurations.
Outside there is a separate entrance with gatehouse for HGVs which have 360 degree circulation linking two 50m yards with parking for up to 277 trailers. The car park has some 525 spaces of which at present there are 54 charging bays although there is ducting for far more if required in the future.
The three storey Cat A office space with kitchenettes and toilets on every level are like the building expansive totalling some 19,621 ft2 and come with energy saving motion activated lighting, low flush toilets etc. There is no fancy fit out which allows any incoming tenant to make their own mark.
The 8,202 ft2 undercroft has been fitted out to a bare minimum allowing an incoming tenant scope to use the space in any way from extra office space, to catering provision to an indoor gym or indeed any other use.
It is not fancy, it is exactly what it is a big box when all is said and done but it has achieved BREEAM Outstanding. This makes it the fourth GLP asset in the UK to be awarded the highest possible BREEAM rating and the second in Magna Park Lutterworth, after MPS 9. MPN761 also achieved the highest possible EPC rating of A+ thanks in part to the inclusion of sustainable features such as a 200kWp solar PV array, rainwater harvesting systems, LED lighting, and air source heat pumps.
The facility has been built net carbon zero which has seen contractor Winvic partnering with a carbon neutral subcontractor for the earthworks package, setting up an on-site batching for all the required ready-mix concrete and working with Community Wood Recycling (CWR) to make good use of the site’s wood waste.
What concrete has been used has utilised Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) content in internal slab, external slab and pad foundations, all steel work has been bolted rather than welded together meaning that it can be effectively unbolted and reused at the end of the building’s life.
As well as the highest BREEAM Standards and being built carbon net zero the facility is WELL Building Standard compliant. In addition GLP will also be supporting customers to reduce energy and operational costs, by providing a complimentary Planet Mark program to help monitor, track and reduce their respective carbon footprint.
If all that were not enough the building is situated adjacent to the 200-acre plus Bittersby Country Park which makes up the overall 550-acre landscaped and privately managed scheme.
And that is what makes Magna Park Lutterworth really special, the foresight to actually manage the aesthetic environment and link the unnatural to the natural world. As I drove down Hunter Boulevard towards MPN 761 which links the Central zone to Magna Park North, I could not see the vast warehouses either side of it – the planting done some 15 – 20 years ago completely hides the facilties. So while Magna Park North looks bare at present once the landscaping matures, those man made edifices will simply disappear from view.
I took Tia the Labrador and chief warehouse acoustic tester for a walk round Bittersby before I left and for a while I was completely on my own with swallows in the sky, butterflies flitting over the grassy banks and oxeye daisies dancing in the breeze – was I in Europe’s largest dedicated logistics park – I don’t think either me or Tia noticed that much.
