WHAT THE DICKINS

Less could mean more for House of Fraser's flagship London department store Dickins & Jones. Less floor space that is, as Plumb Interiors Contracting has removed a 7.2m diameter 'core' from the centre of the four-storey Regent Street building, from which it is now creating an atrium-like well. This feature, culminating in a fibrous plasterwork dome with bronze grilles and hidden uplighting, will vastly improve the store's internal appearance, opening up the building from basement to roof level.

Plumb, a subsidiary of Hall & Tawse, has worked on more than 20 House of Fraser stores in the last decade, yet this œ3 million refurbishment contract, covering shopfitting and M&E works, is its largest and possibly most challenging. The client specified that the store remain open throughout the entire 20-week works programme, so the Plumb team completely sealed the central core area behind a cleanly painted and inconspicuous hoarding.

Plumb liaises closely with House of Fraser to minimise disruption to customers and ensure the efficient operation of the store, explains Hall & Tawse group marketing director Mike Smith.

Most of the noisier work, such as the demolition, has taken place at night, he adds, 'and the public don't even know we're here'. Store staff move merchandise to newly re-fitted sections as quickly as the contractor begins work on the just-vacated areas, often in a matter of a few hours, with both sides working around the clock.

'It's a real partnership between us and the client,' says Smith, 'and we have to be totally flexible'.

Plumb's first major task was to remove the six lifts and their shafts, which previously occupied the central core area. This involved the removal of 'very substantial' steelwork, says project manager Len Ashley, including 9m-long universal beams, in addition to 1.5t lift motors from the rooftop motor room. 'Our greatest problem, though, is one of logistics, as we have no space to work in and no access whatsoever.'

Its solution was a 2.5m-high 'tunnel' suspended from the ceiling of the first floor and running from the central work area to the store's Argyll Street exit. Sections of old steelwork, timber and masonry were subsequently removed via the tunnel, and new materials taken in.

The tunnel was located above the heads of shoppers, and House of Fraser used the soffits on either side of the tunnel for display purposes.

After clearing the old lift motor room, Plumb installed the dome and then took out 15m x 17m rectangular sections from each of the six floors above the lower basement level. It has constructed the circular holes within these voids using steel rings brought into the building in four sections.

Finishing work, now underway, includes laying marble flooring around the well and fitting ornate bronze ballustrades.

A sophisticated ventilation system, with circumferential fire shutters around the top two floor voids and fire curtains on lower levels, is also in place. In the case of fire this will help create a 'chimney effect', forcing smoke up through the grilles around the dome, and out of the building.

Plumb is now putting in two new escalators having removed two existing ones through a third floor window in addition to installing two lifts in another part of the store.

The refurbishment, from the structure elements down to the Art Deco-style furniture and fittings, were all designed by US-based consultant HTI. 'They came up with the concept for the well,' says Smith, 'but Plumb has made it work'.