News: Powell Williams delivers new Costa drive-thru, Slough Retail Park for St James’s Place UK plc/Orchard Street Investment Management LLP

A new 1,800 sq.ft Costa drive-thru at Slough Retail Park in Berkshire, has been completed and is now open for business.

As the biggest furniture retail park in the area, fully-occupied by tenants including DFS, The Range, Sofaworks, Wren Kitchens and Smyths Toys, the park provides 152,467 sq.ft of space across eight retail warehouse units, with extensive on-site car parking spaces.

Powell Williams managed the design-and-build project and acted as employer’s agent and principle designer, on behalf of the parks owner, St James’s Place UK plc.

Erected on a previously underutilised area of the car park, the challenges were to minimise disruption to existing tenants during construction, and to also connect foul drainage, across a busy road, employing traffic management plans.

Our recommendations for a sustainable SUD system increased the capacity of the rainwater drainage, and early stage ground investigation works avoided the use of expensive piling. And with only a 16 week build time, the project completed two weeks earlier than similar projects of this nature.

Duncan Reader, of Orchard Street, asset managers for St James’s Place UK plc said:
“Powell Williams delivered this project ahead of schedule and under budget with brilliant execution. I’m delighted with the result, as is the tenant, Costa, who commented on how seamlessly the project flowed, and the excellent communication. A great job, exceptionally well done.”

Natasha Tyler, associate partner of our London office said:
“As we had been involved with the life cycle of the park from acquisition to disposal by the previous owners, Benson Elliot, we were not only delighted to be retained by Orchard Street, when the park was acquired by their clients in 2018, but that they are so pleased with the progress and outcome of this project, that they have already instructed us on other work across the estate.”