Fakenham Racecourse

SBM win by a nose!

Fakenham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located south of Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The Prince of Wales is patron. Steel Build Masters were invited to present design ideas for the new stores and plant warehouse for the racecourse and were absolutely delighted to be chosen for the project.

Faced with the global pandemic, Steel Build Masters rose the challenge to design and build the new facility in the middle of the national Lockdown.

Set in rural North Norfolk the setting for the new facility could not have been more idyllic. Just Steel Build Masters, the head groundskeeper and a lot of squirrels (not a race horse to be seen).

This new unit was to include offices and workshop to the rear of the building with separate access and additional windows for natural light. A mezzanine floor was to be included too. The front of the building was a more traditional design with large roller shutter to accommodate all the racecourse plant and a steel security door for personnel access.

The building was a fairly straight forward design. Simple but on a very large scale. Utilising our own design of cold formed fully bolted steel frame the initial prime and secondary frame erecting was completed in under a week, ready for the cladding and roofing to commence. The building envelope was equally quick to complete. The isolated position, and lack of people due to Covid, meant that we could work with no interruptions meaning everything stepped up a gear and we were flying through the build at great speed.

The outer was finished in Olive Green, to blend with the surrounding mature fir trees, with doubled glazed windows fitted to the rear gable aspect and separate personnel door. All in all, a dream project from start to finish with everything coming together perfectly and the end result simply stunning.

A welcome addition to Fakenham Racecourse and as ever it came with further recommendations which is always a nice pat on the back for a job well done. We hope to return for a follow up visit to check on everything and maybe catch some racing!