Vickers Armament Factory

1981 by Ryder and Yates for Vickers Armaments. The new factory replaced a series of existing buildings scattered over several miles including the original Elswick Works of William Armstrong. Ryder and Yates used simple portal frames, with roof purlins and aluminium cladding. The building was almost half a kilometre long and had a huge roof span. A series of wide concrete strip foundations supported the portal frames, reduced the load of the building and avoided the need to dig out old machine bases and foundations of previous buildings. Vickers' original machinery was reused, placed on floating concrete rafts. Previously heavy machinery had always been solidly fixed. The building was clad in silver aluminium sheeting. The building had a yellow gutter that ended in an inverted V shape over the entrance. The offices were located on the south side with a perforated concrete screen at its entrance. Foam insulation was used. The curved eaves and oval-shaped windows lended themselves well to the corrugated cladding and created an airtight structure. Heating was via direct-fired gas heaters with no flue. Roof fans provided ventilation. Vickers was later sold to Alvis, who were taken over by British Aero Systems. The building is still in good order. The building won a Civic Trust Award in 1983. Ryder and Yates also designed a tank factory for Vickers in Leeds in 1982 and another in Gemini.