A bakery designed by specialist food and drink sector architect
Cox Freeman has been named as one of the top 50 buildings built in
the East Midlands in the last 50 years.
Pork Farms' Riverside Bakery was the only building from the
1980s in Nottinghamshire and one of only four from the decade in
the region as a whole to make it onto the list compiled by the
Royal Institute of British Architects.
Built on a brownfield site on the north bank of the River Trent
two miles from Nottingham city centre, the building was
commissioned by Northern Foods as a factory for producing pork pies
and pastries.
When it was opened in 1982 it was regarded as one of the most
modern in Europe in design, construction and its ability to comply
with stringent EEC regulations for food processing.
"At Cox Freeman, we're absolutely thrilled that Pork Farms'
Riverside Bakery designed by the company almost 30 years ago has
been hailed as one of the top 50 buildings built in the East
Midlands over the past 50 years, " said Chris Boffin, managing
director of Cox Freeman, based in Stoney Street in The Lace Market,
Nottingham.
"It's a tremendous accolade to be named on the list, and
especially to be one of only a handful of buildings from the 1980s
to be chosen. The building was inventive because of its clear span
production floor and plant room located within the roof structure.
This improved its flexibility and enabled routine maintenance to
take place with minimal disruption to the production
process.
"The innovation was made possible by the use of modular CUBIC
Space Frame roof supported on twelve braced columns around the
perimeter with only three internal columns. "
The 'fifty buildings, 50 years' project celebrated great modern
architecture in the East Midlands over the past five decades, and
marked the 50th anniversary of RIBA in the region.
The chosen buildings form the subject of a major exhibition from
RIBA that showcases innovative and enduring architecture from the
'swinging sixties' onwards. It reveals how architectural creativity
is shaped by context, place, culture, social and political trends
of the time and, in turn, shapes the identity of the region's
places and spaces. It is being exhibited across the East Midlands
over coming months.
Choosing 50 exemplary buildings from 50 years was 'an incredibly
challenging project' said Nottinghamshire architect Hannah Minton,
who chaired the steering group which carried out the intensive
short-listing process.
Cox Freeman is a leading specialist in the food and associated
process industries, where hygiene and healthcare are essential. The
firm has worked for almost every key player in the food sector.