Unit 4, Port One

Employers Agent: Barefoot & Gilles Ltd
Planning Consultant: JTS Partnership
Planning Supervisor/CDM: Trinity Construction Limited
Structural Engineer: JMS Consulting Engineers
Transport Consultants: Cottee Transport Planning Limited
Logistics consultant: Murray Gibson Associates
Fire strategy: Omega Fire Engineering Limited
Ecology: Abrehart Ecology Limited
BREEAM Assessors: Trinity Construction Limited

Outline planning permission was granted in November 2016 for a 14.63 Ha (36-acre) B8 logistics park at Blackacre Hill, Gt Blakenham, now called ‘Port One’. Approval of reserved matters was granted in November 2019 for the erection of a large distribution warehouse and in November 2020 Unit 4 became the first building on the site to become operational.

The building was a pre-let for the FDS Corporation which retails a wide range of household, sports, and garden products. A highly sophisticated mechanized racking and retrieval system is required for storing such a varied range of goods and so specialist logistics advice shaped the overall layout.

The intention is to apply a consistent design to each of the buildings at Port One so that the site becomes a recognised ‘brand’ in its own right.

Since the completion of Unit 4, FDS commissioned a similar distribution warehouse on a neighbouring site. At 26,400 sq. m. (280,000 sq. ft.) the new building is almost twice the size of Unit 4.

Barefoot & Gilles was involved with the initial concept of the park and was appointed as both architects and employer’s agents for the new building.