Winvic to build UK's largest single occupier logistics park

Winvic Construction has been awarded a contract by IM Properties to construct a 2.94 million sq ft global parts logistics centre at Mercia Park in Leicestershire, which is due to be handed over in September 2022. The five industrial units will be leased to Jaguar Land Rover, making it the UK’s largest single occupier logistics park.

Bulk earthwork excavations and bund creation works are now complete, the planting of thousands of trees and shrubs has begun and the programme of highways works is progressing at pace. Winvic will undertake preparatory earthworks, before starting construction of the first three units to the south of the estate road, before commencing Units 4 and 5 to the north. 

Units 2 and 4 are the largest, at 1,000,000 sq ft, with 514m x 181m x 18m steel frames. Units 3 and 5 are each 300,000 sq ft and Unit 1 is 200,000 sq ft and all five buildings will comprise office space, totalling 107,000 sq ft. To date, unusual project challenges have included designing the link building slabs to withstand adjacent warehouse racking leg loads and ensuring the structural frame can tolerate enhanced loading in block stacking areas. IM Properties recently announced that Intermediate Capital Group (IGC) would be forward funding the new campus. 

Winvic will also be delivering associated works including the construction of five yards and car parks accommodating over 2,300 vehicles. 

Surface and foul water drainage installation, and external services will also be undertaken, including intricate underground connections between the completed infrastructure works and each individual unit. Additionally, the area to the north of Unit 3 presents a concentrated number of services that require complex clash detection and planning activities.

Danny Nelson, Director and Head of Industrial at Winvic, said schemes of this nature "don’t come around too often".

"To be selected by IM Properties as the delivery partner on a project of this size, scale and importance is testament to the relationship that has been cultivated over many years and that we continue to be market leaders in the sector," he said.

Jason Jasper, UK project director for IM Properties, said it has taken a 238-acre site from zero to development ready in four years. "Typically a scheme of this scale would be delivered in separate phases over a five-to-ten-year period. After years of investment and hard work, it will be exciting to see all six buildings come out of the ground at the same time. We have worked hard with Winvic and our supply chain to manage the logistical challenges that comes with building this volume at the same time together with managing a phased handover of the development to JLR."