Project
Projects
Large Industrial Manufacturing Facility For WFEL.
Overview
Location
Stockport
Value
£13.5m
Status
Ongoing
Client
The Challenge.
ACS was appointed by WFEL to design and construct a new 5,000m² industrial manufacturing facility in Stockport — a pivotal project supporting the UK Ministry of Defence’s Boxer Programme. The new facility forms a core part of the UK’s defence manufacturing strategy, where WFEL will produce a significant portion of the British Army’s 500 new Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicles (MIVs).
This mission-critical scheme required a fast-track delivery programme, high-spec industrial infrastructure, and robust adaptability during COVID-19 restrictions — all while coordinating complex machinery and specialist construction elements.
Our Solution.
This project was an opportunity for ACS Construction Group to further demonstrate its capability to deliver high-quality and competitive large industrial, logistics and manufacturing schemes for its clients. Along with the complex and challenging construction of the Boxer MIV manufacturing unit, ACS specialists also constructed a new access road and remodelled the existing car parking space to significantly increase capacity and to house 12 new electric vehicle (EV) charging points for WFEL staff.
The build consisted of the following:
- Removal of the existing Spaciotempo temporary buildings.
- Breaking up and crushing the existing floor slabs and service yard, utilising a mobile tracked crusher that provided the recycled stone that was used to stabilise the ground for the construction of the new floor slab following the removal of below ground obstructions.
- Construction of mass filled and reinforced concrete foundations.
- Erection of a steel framed portal building up to 14m high that required heavy duty steel columns to support the 3 internal 25t cranes.
- Insulated roof and wall cladding systems to achieve the specified air permeability testing requirements.
- Construction of the internal floor slab laid to the specified FM2 4th edition 2014 specification.
- Construction of the CMM high tolerance machine pit bases constructed to the German specified design to accommodate the manufacturing machinery.
- Construction of the concrete external service yard, access roads and loading bays.
- External concrete ramp access roads to the rear higher level storage areas.
Works also included the coordination and erection of three 25 tonne cranes. 685m3 of recycled concrete and 1682m3 of site materials were reused in the construction process, this was in line with the specification detailed by the consultant, Ramboll’s and carried out in accordance with the material management plan in accordance with the CL:AIRE code of practice. The floor slab was constructed to the FM2 tolerance to achieve the client’s specification.
The Result.
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ACS was awarded Key Worker status to continue works safely and efficiently. Through adaptive site protocols and close collaboration with WFEL and stakeholders, the entire project was delivered on time, within budget, and to a world-class standard.
WFEL’s new facility now serves as the UK Centre of Excellence for Boxer MIV production — a landmark achievement for both WFEL and the UK defence sector.
We are delighted to have taken ownership of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility from ACS. This is an extremely important step in the journey we are taking, leading to full rate Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle production. Throughout the construction phase, ACS proved to be flexible with the management of change and completed the build project safely, on time and to the defined quality standards – despite the huge challenges in working practice presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new building fully meets our expectations, having been constructed on a brownfield site at our premises in Stockport. We will now establish the UK Centre of Excellence for the manufacture of Boxer Vehicles for the UK Ministry of Defence. This is a significant milestone in the history of military vehicle production in the UK.
