A brand-new Starbucks drive-thru recently opened at Europarc on the western edge of Grimsby, just off the main A180 entry into the town. Europarc is a 110-acre business park developed by Wykeland, and home to some of North Lincolnshire’s leading businesses. But what has a new Starbucks drive-thru on a business park got to do with a family run timber merchant and sawmiller?
For a number of years now Bennetts Timber has specialised in the manufacture and supply of exterior timber cladding for a range of residential, commercial and industrial projects. This has coincided with the huge expansion of the Starbucks Drive-Thru brand throughout the UK. The Starbucks model tends to favour the use of some timber cladding both inside and on the outside of their buildings. In this case we supplied the timber to our customer, Forecourt Refresh.
These projects usually incorporate timber cladding on parts of the exterior shell of the buildings and for these we have developed our own unique Bennetts Timber “Starbucks Profile” a tongue and grooved cladding board with built in shadow gap and secret nail fixing. This gives a great modern feeling profile giving the impression of 50mm (2 inch) wide raised boards, with a gap between.
The preferred timber species of choice was Siberian Larch, or occasionally Western Red Cedar. However, since Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the importation of Siberian Larch has been banned and therefore an alternative species had to be found. Douglas Fir was tried but we settled on European Larch as the go-to species as it pretty much replicates the qualities of Siberian Larch. European Larch is grown in FSC certified forests mainly located in Germany, Austria and other countries in Central Europe.
Each project has a planned timetable and therefore we liaise closely with the project team at this stage to ensure that critical timelines are fulfilled. Once the species has been chosen and the quantities known, a works order is then issued to our sawmill to machine the stock to the set “Starbucks Profile”. At Europarc, European Larch was chosen, which seems entirely appropriate for the location!
The machined cladding then gets transported for treatment at our partner timber coaters, J B Timber based in East Yorkshire, where the larch receives a base and topcoat of Teknos in Cypress which is then dried before delivery. Factory finished applications save both time and contractors labour on site.
Work started work on the Europarc site in February 2024 and we delivered the first batch of European Larch cladding in late March. This delivery also included two sizes of treated timber battens which are fixed to the walls at 400mm centres to create a frame on which to affix the cladding.
The Larch cladding was then installed by skilled joiners and following internal shop fitting, the site was officially opened in June 2024, ahead of schedule. The finished product showcases the timber cladding contrasts beautifully with the glass and metal cladding, giving the drive-thru a sleek, modern look.
In addition to the numerous Starbucks projects undertaken, we have also supplied timber cladding for other drive-through brands and forecourts including Popeyes, Costa, Burger King, Greggs and KFC throughout the UK.
If you are interested in timber cladding for your commercial, retail, residential or agricultural project then call us on 01472 350151 or e-mail: sales@bennettstimber.co.uk for further information or visit our premium cladding page.
