Chemline Plastics has been at its current location since the early 1980’s and since that time there has been considerable change including a building expansion that more than doubled the size of the original building. The current building is composed of three distinct program areas: office, fabrication and warehouse.

3 stones architecture + design was approached by Chemline Plastics to analyse their current operations based on how they were situated within the existing building and determine if there was sufficient expansion capacity on the existing site to optimize their current operations as well as accommodate their future requirements. The process began with an in-depth analysis of existing work spaces, followed by the development of a functional program that incorporated their 10 year plan

The design challenge of this project was the restrictive nature of the site. With its triangular ‘pie’ shape and access limitations, the location and orientation of the expansion was critical.

3 stones architecture + design developed 3 potential conceptual design solutions. Each solution organized the office space in relation to the expanded plant space in different orientations. Each design also had a different design budget and potential for future expansion depending on whether phasing was to be considered or not.

The design shown here illustrates the maximum expansion capability with the entire ground floor occupied by production, fabrication and warehousing. A ground floor entrance at the front leads to a second storey office space that is organized around a roof-top courtyard providing significant daylight harvesting for the office as well as an exterior terrace space adjacent to the staff area and lunchroom.