Driving force

One of the dilemmas, when refurbishing an older building that has been the recipient of past design awards, is how or whether to respect this history.

Architect Greg Gaylor of Creative Spaces worked on the project to refurbish Team McMillan BMW in Newmarket with owner Bob McMillan.

McMillan operates from two sites across the road from each other. One, the old Firestone building, had originally been designed by David Gibbs of Deighton Gibbs and had won a design award in 1995. The other, designed in 1965 by the founders of Jasmax, had won an award shortly after it was built. It was renovated in 1990 by Avery Leuschke, but by 2004 was in need of refurbishment to give it a more contemporary look.

McMillan's brief to Creative Spaces was to renovate this building so the two premises presented a coordinated image as the Team McMillan showroom: a single campus that also recognised their distinguished histories.

"Much of the street frontage was remodelled to create a new facade and extend the existing showroom to complement the old Firestone building across the road," Gaylor says.

"The design of the refurbishment was driven by several factors. We had chosen to co-ordinate with the other existing building, plus we had to take account of structural elements such as staircases and level changes in this building. We also had to adhere to BMW's international corporate identity standards, which are supplied to dealerships worldwide, and cover materials, colours and layout," says the architect.

Team McMillan continued to operate throughout the renovations, so staff, architect and building contractor Canam Construction all worked closely together to define the construction phases and maintain the workflow for all parties.

Story by: Trendsideas