Rejuvenating a Victorian building through aesthetic yet functional design

The Creamery - Engineering Design

The Creamery forms part of the Emily Estate hotel and leisure offering, The Newt, in Somerset. A beautiful Victorian building, the site sits adjacent to Castle Cary train station, acting as a gateway to the estate for people arriving by rail. Emily Estate aimed to transform the site into a multifunctional building, equipped with working creamery, where visitors will be able to watch the cheese-making process, complete with a visitor café, shop, and rented commercial workspace, all with views into the creamery.

Spanning RIBA stages 1–6, we provided complex civil, structural, geotechnical, and fire safety engineering design for the sympathetic redevelopment, rebuild, and extension of this building, as well as the design of a post-tensioned masonry chimney. The original Victorian building had previously been extended several times with different structures and foundations, and we advised that these needed to be demolished without impacting the overall stability of the remaining structures.

Retaining and enhancing the historical features of the original building was a key element of the project, and this presented a unique challenge for our engineers to demonstrate fire safety compliance. Our fire safety strategy incorporated an alarm and detection system throughout the building to give all occupants the earliest possible warning. We successfully demonstrated that this type of system, in concert with robust fire safety management, met the functional requirements of the building regulations and eliminated the need for fire separation between occupancies, which would have detracted from the architectural intent.

Today, visitors enjoy a rejuvenated local landmark housing a multifunctional space that allows them to shop, grab a bite to eat, and learn along the way.