In June 2021 Brims Construction, following a competitive tendering exercise, were successfully appointed to deliver the construction of a new Starbucks Café and Drive Thru on Dragons Lane in Durham for Angel Developments Limited.
The scheme involved the construction of a new café and drive thru Starbucks, which is one of the first of their new standard model units to be built in the UK. Including car parking provision, paths, fencing and site development works, works including roads, paths, landscaping, external lighting, directional signs, all main services and all necessary associated works.
The site was remediated through the removal of excavated material and installation of compacted stone. A piling mat was designed and installed with compacted type 1 and a geotextile mesh prior to ground improvement works commencing. Vibro piling, which is compacted stone piles, was carried out to the buildings footprint to provide the necessary loadings for the building.
The steel frame was built from strip foundations. A masonry plinth was installed to form the perimeter of the building which held the concrete floor slab and the base to which the external walls were built from. The external wall build-up was timber frame, insulation, and a mixture of rain screen cladding and timber larch cladding.
The design also included for floor to ceiling curtain walling with glazed doors and steel personnel doors into the external utility yard. The utility yard was constructed with a concrete floor slab, painted blockwork walls, and accessed by steel personnel doors. The roof was design and constructed with an insulated single ply membrane with incorporated water channels. The channels directed rainwater to the hoppers and through the downpipes to the drainage system.
External works included installing a new below ground surface and foul water drainage system. The surface water is picked up by a mixture of linear drainage, filter trenches, permeable tarmacked areas, and road gullies. The surface water runs through the new system into a hydro break and finally into the existing adopted system.
The build-up under the permeable tarmac was a tanked stone pit which acted as an attenuation system, holding the water, and releasing into the system slowly to prevent overwhelming the hydro break and the existing adopted system.
The foul drainage system was limited to picking up the future toilets and sink. The ductwork installations were installed to provide power supplies to the car park lighting, electric car charging points, and various illuminated signage. The ductwork also provided data feeds to the ordering stations and menu signage adjacent to the drive thru lane. The external works included installing foundations and the various signage; arrows, menus, totem etc. Kerbs were installed to form the car park and drive thru lane prior to the surface finishes; paving, tarmac, soft landscaping and white lining. The scope of soft landscaping was various areas received topsoil prior to planting bushes and shrubs.