Herman Miller Chippenham: Cladding System   Chippenham, UK

Grimshaw’s second building for Herman Miller forms the centre of its distribution operation and contains the warehouse for all raw materials and finished goods.

The industrial unit responds to the client’s need for flexibility and allows for future expansion and potential use for offices, manufacturing and paint spraying.

Structured by a simple primary and secondary beam system, the building's columns sit on a 10 x 20 m grid. Enveloped by a straightforward rectangular envelope with gently curved corners, the pressed aluminium cladding panels give the façade variety and texture.

Conceived along similar lines as Herman Miller’s designs, they act as an interchangeable kit-of-parts. Solid panels, fixed windows, fire doors and personnel doors may be unbolted and moved to any location on the 2.4 x 1.2 m grid.

At the same time, further flexibility is encouraged by interchanging glass from any of the four apertures of each window frame with secondary components such as external lights, ventilation louvres and components to allow pipe transitions. A simple neoprene gasket provides weatherproofing at each vertical joint.


Location
Chippenham, UK

Project Type
Industrial Design →

Client
Herman Miller Ltd

Area
6,970 sq m / 74,997 sq ft

Status
Complete

Year
1983

Photography
Jo Reid & Jo Peck