Stephen George + Partners (SGP), one of the UK’s leading architectural practices, is celebrating the start on site of its first airside project to be under construction. A ground breaking ceremony marked the official construction start of the £7million 54,000 sq ft maintenance hangar and 15,500 sqft workshop facility at Norwich International Airport for Rigby Group plc, owners of Regional City Airports. The new hangar facility, which is designed to service two Boeing 737 aircraft, will  accommodate the expansion of KLM UK engineering group, providing additional capacity to offer aircraft maintenance and repair services to customers worldwide. Ian Yallop, Chairman of SGP: “We have been able to apply our extensive experience of large and small-scale industrial units to the project at Norwich Airport, to create a facility that meets KLM UK’s engineering needs as well as reinforcing Norwich Airport’s position as a leader in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.” “The design of this type of project is very technical and requires a detailed knowledge of airport operations. CAA requirements are focused on safeguarding flights and we had to think in a new way – working from the sky downwards and taking into account a range of variables including radar requirements, wind shear and navigation systems. The workshop is 7.5m to its haunch and the hangar 13.0m and will be constructed using a Twin-Therm wall system, with Euroclad cladding, profiled to break up radar bounce back. This is an important milestone for SGP and although we have worked on several masterplans and designs for other regional and national airports, this is the first that has reached construction stage. We are looking forward to expanding this new and fascinating sector.”