McDonald’s Restaurant, Ashby De La Zouch

Case Study

Client:

McDonald's Restaurants Ltd

Project:

Restaurant Construction, Reconfiguration and Fit-Out

Contract Duration:

8 weeks

the
project

Murray & Willis are one of a number of contractors on the McDonald’s Restaurants national main contractor ‘framework’ agreement and ‘Contractors Alliance’, which comprises a large and diverse portfolio of retail properties throughout the UK.

The projects we undertake can include refurbishment, fit-out of new space, extensions to existing stores and can include major external works such as car park formation, piling works, lift installation, coal seam grouting, roof installation, structural steel works, steelwork extensions, ‘side-by-side’ drive thru’s, excavation and resurfacing works to car parks and landscaping.

These projects can range in size from several hundred thousand to well in excess of one million pounds. Each location is reconfigured to one of twenty unique designs based around different themes and the whole process is ‘benchmarked’ against stringent time parameters which we have managed to achieve.

All projects are planned well in advance beginning forty-two weeks out with a briefing meeting to discuss the initial scope. Then stage one meeting takes place which includes developing ideas and concepts, as well as confirming suitability of design and sub-contractor allocation. This is followed by stage two, which includes design confirmation, sub-contractor booking and material ordering.

In this instance we have focused on a project at Ashby De La Zouch in Leicestershire, which had a total floor area of 3100 Sq. ft, with an extension to the side of the building which was 750 Sq. ft in area. This included a new crew room, with environmentally friendly ‘waterless urinals’ and low flow toilets, resulting in reduced water consumption. We then constructed an extension to the dining area and managers office as well as a considerable car park extension and extensive external alterations.

The new building extension was covered by a folded roof provided by a specialist supplier. A freezer chiller extension was added to another elevation of the building, which included reconfiguration and upgrade of the kitchen and addition of a beverage-making section. The existing crew room was turned into a store room and all public toilet facilities were completely reconfigured.

At the beginning of this project, during the strip-out stage, every element of the space was removed. However, with the help of a specialist sub-contractor the furniture was recycled where possible to enable them to be used again for maintenance purposes.

Internally the fit-out comprised, a new ceramic floor which was imported especially from Italy to a specific McDonald’s design. The restaurant received new low energy lighting which were encapsulated in a new specially designed suspended ceiling. Along with the installation of partitions and screens, specially designed pieces of FF&E, which included a ‘chesterfield bench’, bespoke seating and specialist wall panels.

The majority of the kitchen equipment was new to allow for increased demand and the old equipment was recycled and sent to a metal reclamation plant.

The external alterations were extensive and included excavation of one third of the existing car park to enable us to create a ‘side-by-side’ drive thru, doubling capacity. This phase of the project included completely reconfiguring the whole car park to create special waiting order ‘grill bays’, twenty-three new car parking spaces and a picnic area which were built in an adjoining field owned by the client.

Protecting the environment is very important and as part of this extensive reconfiguration we also constructed a ‘Unilog’ supporting retaining wall. The excavated contaminated soil from this was removed by a specialist waste removal company.

During the construction works the client requested we maintain as much of the ‘hedgerow’ as possible, so as not to disturb local wildlife. We ensured that the hedgerow was included in the design of the new car park and the existing was protected throughout.

Health and safety is always a key focus and due to the large amount of heavy plant equipment on site for excavation and lifting works, as well as the large areas of extension, this project had a lot of focus on the safety and security of the site operatives. We instigated an updated mobile phone policy along with a separate area for making calls and pedestrianised areas were set up within the compound to keep plant equipment separate from the workers. The welfare facilities and off-site storage were located to provide additional space and protection to those on site.

Project
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