OFFICE MEZZANINE FLOOR AUSTAR UK

Austar are a worldwide technology based pharmaceutical engineering solutions provider whose aim is to provide their clients with technology that improves their process and operational effectiveness. 

They design and build various products that are used within the clean rooms and laboratories throughout the pharmaceutical industry and they aim to help contribute to world drug safety and efficacy.

The Austar Group was founded in 1991 and from their headquarters in Beijing, they have been gradually planning to expand across the world, with their latest aim being to set up a design and manufacturing facility within the UK.

Huddersfield has been chosen as the site of the first UK arm of the business and after Paul, the Director of Austar UK identified a new warehouse for their base of operations, they soon realised that they required some help fitting out the new premises to their requirements.

‘When we first took out the lease on this premises, we inherited a concrete shell with no office space at all. Our growth strategy included people who needed to work in office space, so we made the conscious decision to hopefully create a nice working environment, so that we could attract talent.’ – Paul Hudson, Director, Austar UK.

Austar UK needed the help of a design and build specialist to transform the empty warehouse space into a working environment that provided both office and workshop space. As part of their brief, they didn’t want the new office facilities to take up any of the valuable floor space that had been designated for their workshop and machinery processes. That’s why an office mezzanine floor was the perfect solution.

By situating the new office facilities up in the air, above the workshop below, Austar could achieve their aim of providing office space for their new employees without affecting their design and manufacturing processes, which are at the heart of their business.

‘We chose Nexus because of their interpretation of our vision. We knew exactly what we wanted, right from the very start and we relayed that information to the sales engineer who then relayed that information to the design team and very quickly, the Nexus designers created a general arrangement drawing that reflected exactly what we wanted’ – Paul Hudson, Director, Austar UK.

The process of finding the right design and build specialist for Austar UK to work with, fell on the shoulders of Tim Blank, Austar UK’s Product Development Engineer who knew this decision was an important one.

‘An internet search brought up a few companies who could have done something like this. Nexus’ website caught my eye because of the vast number of images and case studies of projects that we had a similar vision for. We’re also a firm believer of supporting local businesses. Nexus are less than ten miles from here, so it makes sense from an after sales point of view.’ – Tim Blank, Product Development Engineer, Austar UK. 

Once Austar UK were in touch, we arranged to visit their premises to conduct a site survey and discuss with them their plans for the space.

‘The process was really simple. At the initial site survey when Lee came we discussed colours, furniture, space that we wanted to maximise etc. From there, Lee gave us a quotation that had everything we asked for’. – Tim

During the design process, like with most projects, Austar UK asked for a few changes and a couple of additions along the way. ‘We did ask for some changes along the way, different furniture options, desk layouts, etc and Nexus were happy to help there’ said Tim. Paul added that ‘we took the opportunity to put some additions onto that quotation, because we required some electrical work, CCTV, alarm and fire systems in the building. Nexus very willingly took that on and provided a competitive turnkey solution for us’.

Once the installation process started, we got to work strengthening the existing small reception area roof, before installing the mezzanine floor steels that would make up the rest of the floor for the new office facilities. We then created the first floor office space through the installation of floor to ceiling partitioning that seamlessly connects with the roof of the warehouse. This offers fantastic sound proofing to ensure that the sounds of the warehouse aren’t heard within the office space.

The new office facilities include an open plan space for the majority of Austar’s office based employees and two individual offices for senior members of the team. The mezzanine floor design was finished off with a staircase leading to the offices and a suspended ceiling complete with LED lighting below, to shine a light on the new workshop facilities.

‘From an installation point of view, the Nexus team ran the site themselves. I think all I had to do was open the door in the morning. Everything was taken care of’ said Tim. Whilst Paul added that ‘The interaction that we had with the installation team was excellent’.

‘We chose Nexus because of their interpretation of our vision. We knew exactly what we wanted, right from the very start and we relayed that information to the sales engineer who then relayed that information to the design team and very quickly, the Nexus designers created a general arrangement drawing that reflected exactly what we wanted’

‘Working with Nexus was very smooth, the quotation was competitive, very precise and accurate. Nexus very willingly took on everything involved within the project and provided us with a very competitive turnkey solution and took away the project management headache that we would have had and took that on themselves.’ – Paul Hudson, Director, Austar UK