Civil and structural engineering consultancy Rodgers Leask has been appointed to the £100m regeneration of the Royal Bath & West Showground.
The Midlands-based firm is working alongside developers London & Wharfedale on the project, which will create 1,500 jobs on more than 100 acres of redeveloped land on the edge of Shepton Mallet.
The plans include six zones offering rural and countryside leisure pursuits, a manufacturing and distribution hub, business and technology units, the showground, a retail destination, and a rural economy business zone including food research and service sectors.
Under the proposals the existing showground will gain a 5,000m2 exhibition hall and conference centre, creating a leading visitor centre and contributing more than £200m to the regional economy. The venue already attracts more than 1m visitors a year and stages events on 100-plus days each year.
Andrew Catmur, who leads the Birmingham office of Rodgers Leask, said: “This is an exciting and challenging project which we are delighted to be working on. We are exploring intelligent solutions to the many challenges, including supplying utilities and a foul pumping system.
“We are also studying the highways and the phased development of the roads, roundabouts, the site entrance and so on. It is a very large scheme, covering around 100 acres, and so the infrastructure requirements are diverse and demanding.”
The showground aims to become the first in the UK to be completely energy self-sufficient using renewable technologies such as solar thermal, photovoltaic cells, or anaerobic digestion of biomass waste from local dairy industries.
Excess electricity could be sold back to the National Grid, generating income for the showground.
Rodgers Leask, which has offices in Derby, Birmingham and London, has designed multi-storey steel and concrete framed structures for a variety of clients ranging from multi-million pound manufacturing facilities through to commercial offices, institutional and industrial buildings, residential properties, hotel and leisure centres of varying size and complexity.
