Caunton are working yet again for the world’s largest furniture retailer IKEA. Caunton are contracted to main contractor McLaughlin and Harvey to design, supply and erect nearly 2300te of structural steelwork for their new Exeter store. The overall works will include the 28K sq. m. IKEA store, with car park, restaurant, and a crèche. The steelwork for the structural framing comprises six spans of latticed trusses, creating a total breadth for the building of 120 metres. The building itself is 160 metres in length, all to an 8 metre grid.
Work started on site in spring of this year and IKEA expects it to be completed in the early summer of 2018. The 116,000 sq.m. plot of land has been excavated for signs of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements by Cotswold Archaeology. BWB are the overall engineer and SRA the architects. IKEA, whose HQ is now in the Netherlands, has 340 stores in 28 countries. It maintains it has been the world’s largest furniture retailer since at least 2008.
Caunton have a good track record in working for this world famous company. Details of work carried out by the company on two IKEA stores –Croydon and Brent Park – can be found in Caunton web site news 1 May 2004 and 1 May 2005. 