Southern Motor Group

Won on the tender market, Cook Brothers were engaged to carry out the major alterations to Southern Motor Group. This included a new showroom for Southern Motor group made of steel and glass to showcase the vehicles around 3 sides of the building. The service, reception and back of house offices were also reconfigured in the alterations. Following completion of stage 1, the facade of the existing building was removed and rebuilt in 3 stages, bringing the dated building out of the 1980's and into the contemporary market.

While the VW showroom was a new build the existing facade of the building, a dated conservatory type installation was removed and replaced with a new structure to showcase the vehicles. The works were coexisting with the regular day to day business of the large car dealership which operated through the entire project. This was made possible by the staging of the projects. It was important the showroom looked open at all times despite the construction advancing and the team worked closely with the client to minimise the disruption to their business operations.

The new showroom build was the definite highlight of the project, a double-height glass box in a contemporary style to showcase the Volkswagen brand. With showroom appearances a priority for the dealership, the team used proprietary lightweight hoarding panels to provide a clean crisp look to the interiors during staged works. They also built the facade from the top down to ensure ease of access to heights without having to build over and risk damaging the new roof.

The project went well with a quality result for the client. The programme was pushed past the initial completion date as once the original contract work was complete, Cook Brothers were invited to carry out more work to the remainder of the building and are currently in construction. There has been positive verbal feedback from both the client and the project manager on our people and delivery.