Smart-Space

Smart-Space awarded ‘Leading Providers of Temporary Buildings 2022’

Smart-Space — 28/07/2022

Midlands based Smart-Space has been named as the Leading Providers of Temporary Buildings 2022 by SME News business magazine.

Now in its 5th year of the Midlands Enterprise Awards, the publication chose Smart-Space following an application that listed its core values - supporting Midlands and British manufacturing, having an excellent team, retaining its family values as the business continues to grow and for the team’s outstanding flexibility.

“We are delighted to be recognised” commented Sales Director Jason Lynock. “We have been around for more than thirty years but we’ve grown as a business quite significantly over the past two years. Our expansion has led to us moving into our own premises in Kingsbury near Tamworth, and continuing to expand our teams in every department. This is an award for everyone who is part of the Smart-Space team”.

Smart-Space supplies a range of pop-up space solutions - including temporary, interim, permanent and maxi-span buildings designed to provide instant space for storage, workshops, loading bays, sports venues and a wide range of other uses. Its solutions are used by blue-chip companies, the UK government, airports, schools and many businesses across the UK.

www.smart-space.co.uk

Sherburn High School

Smart-Space — 02/09/2019

A temporary sports facility
for the students of Sherburn

High School in Leeds “For this project, Smart-Space successfully supported a multi-partner build involving several stakeholders”
Sherburn High School, with over 750+ pupils, situated in a village just outside Leeds, suffered a disaster on 3rd July 2018 when its sports hall was the target of an arson attack and burnt to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt. Not only was the school well insured for a rebuild, but it was also able to install a temporary building whilst the lengthy process of planning and rebuilding a permanent structure could happen in the background.
Led by John Wagstaff, the school’s Site Manager, there were a few considerations - primarily the need to provide a temporary solution very quickly and the ability to work with a number of agencies. In a more complicated arrangement than usual, Smart-Space worked with several stakeholders - Sherburn High School, North Yorkshire County Council, the insurance company, Tom Willoughby (a framework contractor of the council), Align building company and a specialist flooring contractor.

One of the important criteria for Sherburn High School was to use UK-based suppliers. Smart-Space flies the flag by using British made components, sourcing everything as locally as possible and employing its own team of people for the build.
The fire left its own legacy in terms of the after-effects that needed to be addressed so that building work could commence. One of these complications was the requirement for new gas pipes - not an easy job but a major factor that had to be taken into account. A new access road and the car park were also built to make the temporary building site viable for all contractors. Even the position of several, well-established, protected trees affected decisions on the location of the temporary building.

2 large, spacious changing rooms
The interior feels extremely substantial
“Once planned, our new gym was up and running within a week”
The new facility, which was installed over a few days during the school’s summer holiday period, consists of a huge hall where a number of sports take place daily - including an indoor high jump, table tennis, gymnastics and PE lessons. There is a large teacher’s office and two cavernous changing rooms that feed off the main entrance hall. Once inside, the building has a sturdy, permanent feel. It is light and airy and its inflated roof means that it is not susceptible to condensation or damp.

“We tend to heat the space if it needs it and then turn it off as it maintains its temperature very well,” said Mr Wagstaff.
“It all went like clockwork,” said John Wagstaff. “Everyone was very impressed, including the council’s Health and Safety people who operate to really high standards. Tom Willoughby, the framework contractors who managed the project, said it was fantastic”.

Working with several contractors to create a temporary building is not new to Smart-Space but it is something they don’t face often. “Ordinarily, we take on a project from start to finish so this time we had a lot more to do in terms of communication and integrating and managing our part to make sure it all came together, which of course it did!” explained Jason Lynock of Smart-Space.
“The speed of this build reflects the importance of dealing with a UK-based, experienced business. I don’t think it would have been achieved otherwise”
Jason Lynock, Smart-Space

Fact file

Client Sherburn High School, Leeds
Contact John Wagstaff, Site Manager
Project Temporary school gym
Size 15m x 32.5m
Build 5 days - from delivery to fully usable
Panels 40mm micro-rib
Roof Air inflated
Flooring Heavy-duty floor (with no need for concrete base) with 12mm plywood cover (flooring and markings by specialist supplier)
Notes Worked with multiple partners
www.smart-space.co.uk
Positioned to use protected trees
as an attractive canopy
for the temporary building
For the future, the temporary building is being considered for a number of additional uses - as a public sports facility out of school hours and a venue for the school leavers’ events. It will remain in place until the permanent building is completed which isn’t expected until around March 2021.

Case Study : Sertec opts for a Maxi-Space solution for immediate business growth

Smart-Space — 22/02/2024

With almost 2500 employees across 8 manufacturing sites and a £265m annual turnover, Sertec is a rapidly growing, ambitious company - one of the largest independent stamping and assembly suppliers in Europe with an extensive steel and aluminium product range.

At its Tyseley premises in Birmingham, Smart-Space worked with the Sertec team, headed by Andy Cresswell, Group Facilities Manager (pictured above), to create a long-term space solution to house the company’s finished goods.

The build challenges included extreme time pressures, a requirement for height to accommodate Sertec’s current fleet of VNA trucks and uninterrupted storage space.

The company needed additional space to be able to continue with its investment and growth plans. It was particularly time-sensitive as unavoidable delays had already been created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Why Smart-Space: “I chose Smart-Space because they gave me that essential ‘warm feeling’ combined with the more pragmatic values of functionality, commercial sense and time schedules” explained Andy. “Jason, Smart-Space’s Sales Director, is professional and business-like but also extremely affable and informal. I did put the team under great pressure and challenged them very hard about the scope, delivery and timing of the project. I needn’t have worried as everything was managed exactly as promised.

The build: The Smart-Space team worked in complete harmony with Sertec. The building design changed, the weather was extreme, changeable and challenging, there was no room for error, time was against them but still the two companies worked well to achieve exactly what was required on time.

Sertec needed to introduce some of the building’s services during the build so time and work was managed strategically to allow for this. The Smart-Space team changed plans accordingly without losing any build time.

The Smart-Space team was praised for many things but primarily its ‘can-do’ attitude, going above and beyond expectations, even unloading a wagon that wasn’t theirs to help avoid delays.

Andy Cresswell on health and safety: “One of the biggest factors for me was that, as principle contractors, health and safety was owned entirely by Ryan Gibson at Smart-Space. This vital aspect of the build, which of course is of paramount importance, was managed extremely well and allowed me more time to focus on the overall project. And there wasn’t a single incident.”

The Maxi-Space building: The building is almost identical to a permanent, traditional structure with just the concrete base and wind braces to differentiate it. Its grey facade is broken up by a bright yellow 7m fast action door that works with the height of the unit. It can be set at lower heights to prevent the building getting too cold. The lights work on sensors for energy efficiency and there is a general air of order and method inside and outside of the building - largely down to Andy Cresswell’s approach.

In conclusion: Completed within 15 weeks, from idea to completion, the Sertec Maxi-Space facility is now fully operational, stocked with finished goods with an invaluable access doorway into the main business premises that it adjoins. It has been integrated into the existing Sertec premises seamlessly.

The legacy of this build means that Sertec’s capacity to expand, install new assembly lines and introduce new products can go ahead according to plan.

Smart-Space awarded ‘School Buildings Supplier 2022’

Smart-Space — 04/01/2023

Midlands based Smart-Space has been recognised as ‘School Buildings Supplier of the Year 2022’ at a ceremony in London, hosted by Education Today magazine, earlier this month.

Smart-Space provides instant buildings to businesses and organisations who need additional space, and has been supplying different building products to the education sector for many years.

“Smart-Space is delighted to have won ‘School Buildings Supplier of the Year’ and recognises it as a positive reflection of the work of the whole team. We’ve been working in the education sector for some years now and enjoy the challenge of helping schools who need more space – whether that’s a temporary classroom or a permanent sports facility” commented Jamie Southam, Business Manager for Education and Specialist Structures.

Jamie is pictured (above centre) at the Education Today awards event at the River Bank Park Plaza Hotel in London on 1^st December, with Shaun Stephens, Business Manager (left) and Jason Lynock, Sales Director (right).

The award was voted for by people within the education sector and was one of a total of twenty two awards won by schools, suppliers and people who have all made a difference and shown themselves to be outstanding in their field. The awards included Headteacher of the Year, School of the Year and Community Champion among their titles.

Smart-Space supplies a range of pop-up space solutions - including temporary, interim, permanent and maxi-span buildings designed to provide instant space for a variety of applications including school classrooms, sixth form centres, sports venues and a wide range of other uses. Its solutions are used by blue-chip companies, the UK government, airports, schools and many businesses across the UK.

Find out more abput Smart Space by heading to www.smart-space.co.uk

7 Reasons You Might Want to Consider a Temporary Building Instead

Smart-Space — 11/12/2018

Finding an empty building off-site is not always be convenient. Here's 7 reasons why you should consider investing in temporary buildings from Smart Space.

The biggest advantage of a relocatable temporary building is the speed and low-cost of installation, due to the PVC textile roof. This also gives the buildings the tolerance to stand on almost any surface without the need for a pre-prepared base.

7 benefits of investing in temporary buildings

There often comes a time in business where space, or the lack of it, becomes a problem. Perhaps you want to increase production, which means extra equipment and storage space. Maybe you need to increase your warehouse facilities to cope with increased output. Or perhaps you need additional loading space to protect your goods in goods-in or despatch areas?

Finding an empty building off-site is not always a convenient or feasible proposition. And there are major hidden costs and headaches with this option as you’ve got the inconvenience of additional transport and staff to consider, as well as often binding leases to sign which may tie you in to unwanted lease commitments.
So, before you begin considering the cost of a major relocation to larger premises, consider the benefits of erecting a relocatable temporary building instead...

1) Quick installation

From the first phone call to discuss your needs, we can often have your building on site and operational within 7 – 21 days - ideal if the need for short term storage or increased productivity has suddenly become a very high priority.

2) Most flexible rental terms

Often the need for extra space is caused by productivity spikes, or seasonal requirements. Our temporary buildings are available for rent on the most flexible terms possible. No up-front payments, no minimum term rental periods and only 7 days’ notice to terminate the rental. What could be more flexible than that?

3) No groundwork preparation required

The beauty of the design enables us to erect our relocatable buildings on literally any surface. Of course, the more level the surface the better; but the PVC roof gives the building the tolerance to be installed on sloping and uneven surfaces and for the uprights to follow the levels of your land. So, if you want to extend off your existing building or have a stand-alone building on your car park, this is easily achieved with this type of building.

4) Easily expanded

If you’ve underestimated the space you required, or you continue to require additional space, our temporary buildings can be extended quickly and easily with minimum disruption to your business operation. The same applies should you want to reduce the size of your temporary building.

5) Cost-effective operating costs

While initial set-up costs are considerably lower than arranging a full permanent building, in most instances you will save on business rates as well. Because they are classified as transient (temporary), our temporary buildings rarely attract business rates.

6) Tax deductible

Classified as plant, the cost of your temporary building is tax deductible, reducing your annual Corporation Tax liability.

7) Optional extras

All our buildings are available with a selection of options depending on operational requirements. Heavy duty or integral flooring can be included as well as forklift and pedestrian access doors, and interior partitioning.

If you feel one of our temporary buildings will solve your immediate needs, or would like more information on our full range of temporary, semi-permanent and permanent buildings, please download our free Which Building Guide. Please vist our website, www.smart-space.co.uk