Vickers Oils New Laboratory & Refurbishments

Vickers Oils is a family-run company which has been based at its Clarence Road site in Leeds for almost 140 years. The company is the market leader worldwide for lubricants for the textile and marine industries.

Halliday Clark were appointed by Vickers Oils in 2014 to design a new £3m laboratory and upgrade existing buildings across their site to improve production flow.

The location of the new laboratory was positioned in a part of the site directly within a flood plain along the banks of the River Aire. The fit-out of the laboratory was chosen by the client and had to be co-ordinated into the design. Both the new lab and upgraded buildings were to be heated and cooled using a new water source heat pump, the first time this type of technology had been used in Leeds, providing an energy efficient, low carbon system.

The 5,500 sq ft two-storey, riverside building which housed the new laboratory was built on stilts with the ground floor used as an enclosed storage facility. This lifted the expensive lab equipment above the flood plain. A flat roof was created which provided a safe accessible location for the plant from the new extract systems. Marley Eternit fibre cement cladding boards, arranged in a random pattern, provided the elevations with a striking high-quality contemporary appearance.

Co-ordination of information from all sub-consultants was absolutely key to the success of the building. In addition to the new lab facility, completed phases also include a boiler house, tank farm and the refurbishment of existing offices.

The new facilities will allow Vickers Oils to increase production and continue the development of its award-winning environmentally acceptable lubricant range.

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