DAWSON-WAM Head Office

DAWSON-WAM self build for one level of storage basement, two storey office and administration block and conference/training/kitchen facilities for up to 60 people. The conference/training/kitchen facilities were an extension added later as the company grew in size. The building has a footprint area of 8,500ft2 on all three floors. The external finishes include 12,200m2 of roads, hard-standing and parking, all hard surfaces constructed using PCC 80mm thick paving bricks. The site is completed by 1,000m2 of soft landscaping of trees, shrubs and grass areas.

The storage basement is in-situ reinforced concrete floor slab and walls to existing ground level. The basement construction required approximately 3,500m3 of greywacke rock excavation using drilling, blasting and hydraulic rock hammers on 25t excavators.

The building is, fully insulated, cavity wall construction with clay coloured PCC facing brick externally and plaster finish breeze block internal walls. Disabled access of adequate ramps is augmented by a passenger lift to all three levels.

More recently DAWSON WAM enhanced our sustainability/green credentials with a new, wood pellet, biofuel installation to the Head Office Complex. This is further to the installation of the 14kW ground array heat source installation, matched to a Vailiant Geotherm heat pump, in our regional office in Bedfordshire.  

Originally our head office had been using a variety of LPG wall hung boilers and was split into five areas using the five boilers all with individual controls. A BFH, 99kw biomass heating, (Biofuel Heating) system replaced all the LPG boilers. 

The heating plant is located in an exterior location immediately adjacent to the office with an underground link into the basement. Implementing this route enabled us to provide background heat to the basement and zones were enabled for ground and first floor with climate control. In addition an online utility monitoring service is used to review and track and compare future utility costs detailing fuel and carbon release saved.