West Ham Bus Garage

Offsite construction has provided a permanent solution to the need for additional space at the UK’s biggest bus garage. Leading offsite building specialist Terrapin has supplied five factory-built modules which form a gatehouse and ancillary accommodation building for support staff at West Ham, London. Terrapin built the new corner-loaded modules and finished their interiors at its Milton Keynes factory, before transporting them to West Ham, where they were craned into position and connected to plumbing and electrical services.

Terrapin’s corner loaded module is an innovative construction type which increases design flexibility in factory built buildings, generating substantial cost savings on site and throughout the life of a building. The new module combines best practice in offsite construction with the flexibility of a steel frame building to allow greater freedom of design in an economical and highly efficient building system for a wide variety of residential, commercial, educational and health space requirements.

Managing Director says the buildings demonstrate the versatility of offsite construction and its suitability for permanent as well as temporary accommodation. “Factory building is not affected by the weather, and it enables us to maintain consistent high levels of build quality. The Terrapin system easily adapts to suit the customer’s needs for interior and exterior finishes, making it the ideal, cost effective choice for solving both short and long term requirements.”

At West Ham, the 25 sq m gatehouse is a single module, which consists of a security office with toilet and tea kitchen, and a visitors’ area. The 95 sq m ancillary accommodation building is made up of four modules, including locker rooms and toilets for male and female staff, a disabled toilet, mess room, office, store and low voltage switch room. Both buildings have ramped access.