The existing Minton pottery site in the heart of Stoke on Trent had been closed by Royal Doulton and the site offered for sale with the benefit of outline planning consent for a foodstore, part of a strategy supported by the Local Authority to drive the much needed regeneration of the City centre.

Construction of an 81,500 sq ft gross new store on the former Minton pottery factory in Stoke. The project included the demolition of the existing buildings (with attendance from the local archaeological unit), remediation of the land using vibro compaction to form stone columns, decontamination of local hotspots, asbestos removal and construction of the new supermarket, petrol filling station and car park.

The store construction consisted of a built up cladding system on a propped steel portal frame with barrel vault standing seam roof and exposed internal services to both sales area and bulkstock/domestic areas.

Davis Langdon played a major part in driving down cost on this project to establish a new low cost benchmark and also controlled the overall construction programme from inception, including demolition and land remediation, at 33 weeks.

Davis Langdon worked very closely with the project team to create a true fast track development….a prime example being the finalisation of the shell design at risk before planning consent was granted such that the foundations had been completed and the steel frame manufactured and delivered to site ready for erection to commence some 15 minutes after the planning committee had resolved to grant consent!

The rapid development of the new ‘Sainsbury’s Store has done more for the regeneration of Stoke than any other single development over the past 50 years. The Colin Minton Campbell statue is also back on parade having been successfully returned in front of the store.