Portakabin delivers innovative space for renewable pioneers Siemens Gamesa

Multi-room office and welfare buildings completed and installed by Portakabin in less than six weeks.

With space at a premium on the site at Green Port Hull, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy were looking for multifunctional space that would be as welcoming to its busy on-site employees as it would be for visiting customers.

As pioneers of a new generation of wind turbines, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has invested £160 million in a specialist facility in East Yorkshire where its wind turbine production plant will sit alongside its assembly and servicing facility at Green Port Hull.

With the UK leading the way in offshore wind energy and with some of the best resources in Europe at its disposal, the site at Green Port Hull is well placed to support the efficiency targets set for the industry by 2020.

The state-of-the-art facility is located on reclaimed Humber Estuary land, placing it at the mouth of the River Humber, enabling turbines to be produced, assembled and sent to sea from one location, an innovative way to drive down the overall cost for producing these giant structures.

Portakabin responded to the demanding brief which included a difficult location, challenging environment and tight timeframe. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy approached them in need of five office and welfare zones for clients and employees which would in turn support the construction project office for wind turbine pre-assembly.

The finished building features a custom-built viewing platform and two-storeys of office space, shower and welfare facilities, kitchens, break out spaces and common rooms. Client meeting rooms were specifically fitted out with custom vision panels to provide look out points for visitors over the live production site without having to take them onto an active manufacturing site.

Portakabin supplied, installed and maintained almost 1000m2 of floor space after less than six weeks on site. The building system itself offers exceptional levels of insulation and air-tightness, providing a comfortable, warm and welcoming office environment that’s also energy efficient.

Anthony Granville, Senior Project Manager, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy said: “The viewing platform and vision panels in meeting rooms give our clients breath taking views of the River Humber as the turbines are moved offshore and allows us to showcase the project in action."

Robert Snook, Director and General Manager, Hire England and Wales, Portakabin said: “It’s incredible to see how we’ve been able to introduce a modern, multi-functional space for Siemens Gamesa here at the Green Port Hull site. Driving cost efficiencies for offshore wind energy is vital to ensure its longevity in the UK. The flexible options Portakabin can offer on challenging sites such as this make us a quality choice for projects in need of multi-use space.”

Paul Savvides, Procurement Manager at Siemens Gamesa said: “Being based on one site is vital for us and Portakabin was able to quickly deliver high quality buildings into a very challenging environment. As a completely new UK industry, we want to make our processes and products as productive and cost effective as possible and we were impressed with their ability to meet our tight time constraints.”