Sainsburys Supermarket Camden

The triangular site, bounded by the Regent's Canal, Kentish Town Road and Camden Road, was once a bakery. The local council were determined to have a mixed-use development on the land, and had rejected several schemes by other other architects before Grimshaws were approached. The scheme sits on top of an underground car park, created as part of the development. The optimum sales area, at ground floor level, was designed as a column-free space with an arched roof. To leave room for a service yard, all the support and ancilliary areas had to be located at first floor level, without compromising the sales area. A series of columns sit at the periphery of the sales area. On top of these are huge brackets, pointing into the sales floor, and the arches for the sales area roof are supported off these. Vertical tie rods, on the outside of the brackets, counter the weight of the arches. All the support accommodation is then carried off the top of the brackets. A true High-Tech solution.