Redeveloping A Dairy Unit

Nigel Belton of Acorus was asked to provide advice on replacing some cow cubicles on an established dairy unit in Somerset. Having carried out a detailed assessment, it became apparent that few improvements could be made to the 25+ year old buildings. After much deliberation our client decided that the only way forward was to invest significantly in expanding and redeveloping the dairy enterprise.

In close liaison with the client’s dairy consultant, Nigel developed a number of alternative design concepts in an endeavour to produce a ‘master plan’ for the long term development of the buildings.

This master plan was vital as the importance of phasing the development was paramount not least of all from a budgetary perspective. The works would be split into three phases; new cubicle building for 350 cows, new slurry storage and new milking and handling complex.

The Acorus Design team gained full planning consent and prepared working drawings for phase 1, obtained competitive tenders for the works and contract managed the works to completion.

At the time of writing phase 2, the slurry store, is under construction and the new milking complex will follow shortly.