Lyons O’Neill are involved in the conversion of Derrys department store into student accommodation and a hotel in Plymouth. The existing building is to be developed into residential accommodation, with a hotel occupying part of the site. Commercial space will be retained at ground floor level. The development involves the addition of a new lightweight storey to the top of the existing Derry’s building, the formation of 3 new internal courtyards and the addition of 4 storeys to the top of the existing Co-op building. The scheme also involves spanning both a double storey virendeel truss and 3 single storey virendeel trusses over a major retail unit and over a live substation. These support 4 storey’s of residential accommodation.

We have been working alongside the architect and contractor to develop a structural scheme which retains as much of the existing structure as possible, integrating new structure where required. By reviewing the archive drawings of the building in conjunction with the change in building usage from retail to residential, we have been able to justify existing columns and foundation structures for the additional load, minimising the requirement for new foundations and new support structure.

Architect	Claridge Architects
Contractor	EHA Group
M&E Engineer	Dynamic Design Consultants
Value	£40M
VR	Take a tour of the model