Lidl, Blackburn
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Summary
Transforming a fully operational supermarket
This project involved the complete internal refurbishment of the Lidl store in Blackburn, the addition of a new bakery extension, and external civils and drainage works. The store remained fully operational during most of the 15-week contract programme.
The extensive internal refurbishment of Lidl in Blackburn, the creation of a new bakery extension, and the accompanying civils and drainage works, had an overall contract programme of 15 weeks. However, the store remained fully operational for 12 of those weeks, leaving us three weeks to strip out the internal retail space and complete the fit-out in time for Lidl's own specialist retail fit-out team.
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Working alongside the customers
We created a timber hoarding within the store to segregate works from the public, allowing us to knock through the existing external wall to create the bakery extension while the public continued using the store. The reinforced concrete flooring was cast in split levels to incorporate the new freezer in the bakery extension. The external walls were constructed from clay Poroton cellular block with reinforced in-situ concrete columns and a high-level ring beam, which provided structural support to the steel roof members.
Following the M&E first fix, all internal walls were rendered, and the new suspended sub-grid and primary grid were installed. All existing doorways were altered to reflect the increased door sizes, and new internal windows were installed. Following structural alterations, the new shopfront windows were installed, and the floor screed and tiles were installed using a vibro-compacted flooring system. The M&E final fix – together with decorations, toilets, ceiling tiles and new steel door installations – completed the internal refurbishment.
We also delivered a considerable element of external works, including a complete redevelopment of the car park with new drainage, kerbs, lighting, and hard and soft landscaping. The external fabric of the building was stripped off and re-clad with a framed Alucobond cladding system, together with a painted, two-coat external render. A new loading dock was constructed in the delivery area, which included the removal of existing steps and the formation of new reinforced concrete steps. The existing loading dock was replaced with a new larger size dock leveller and roller shutter, which required further structural alterations.
The new and improved Lidl store was completed with minimal disruption to shoppers and staff, to the delight of our client.
