Britishvolt
Location: Cambois, Northumberland, UK
Role: Facilities Integration Lead (delivered while employed at ISG Ltd)
Core Expertise Demonstrated: Design Assurance · Digital Factory Planning · OEM Integration · Client-Side Design Management · BIM & Data Alignment
Project Overview
The Britishvolt Gigafactory was envisioned as a landmark in the UK’s energy-transition and electric-vehicle supply chain.
Located on a 95-hectare brownfield site at Cambois near Blyth, the £2.6 billion development aimed to establish the UK’s first large-scale battery manufacturing facility, producing up to 30 GWh of lithium-ion cells annually, enough to power more than 300,000 EVs.
Beyond its scale, Britishvolt sought to redefine how industrial manufacturing could integrate sustainability, logistics, and digital delivery, anchoring regional regeneration and creating more than 3,000 jobs on-site.
My Role
As Facilities Integration Lead within ISG’s design management team, I was responsible for ensuring the project’s design coordination, master planning, and process integration were aligned with Britishvolt’s manufacturing intent.
I worked closely with the client, designers, and equipment OEMs to define and assure the technical design baseline for one of the UK’s most complex industrial start-ups.
What I Delivered
Design Assurance & Digital Factory Blueprinting
Led the development of the site masterplan and digital factory process layout, integrating civil, architectural, and utilities design with the end-to-end manufacturing flow — from electrode production to module assembly and pack formation.
Implemented a structured design-assurance process and digital model coordination reviews to validate space planning, equipment layouts, and future capacity scaling within a unified BIM environment.
OEM Integration & Stakeholder Alignment
Coordinated between Britishvolt’s engineering teams, process-equipment OEMs, and external consultants to capture functional requirements, performance criteria, and interface specifications.
Facilitated multi-disciplinary workshops to align technical dependencies across utilities, production, and logistics operations, ensuring early alignment between design, equipment supply, and operational readiness.
BIM & Data Integration Framework
Supported the implementation of the BIM execution framework across all design partners, ensuring model consistency, asset data integrity, and compliance with ISO 19650 standards.
This approach established a foundation for future digital handover, enabling Britishvolt to link facility data directly into its planned operations and maintenance systems.
Construction Programme & Site Readiness
Developed early construction-readiness assessments, programme dashboards, and risk registers to align enabling works, utilities installations, and manufacturing-hall sequencing.
Provided technical oversight on the design deliverables to ensure schedule integrity and coordination between site construction and incoming OEM equipment.
Impact
The early design assurance and digital factory groundwork delivered at Britishvolt created a coordinated, process-led blueprint for the UK’s first battery gigafactory.
This work demonstrated how advanced manufacturing, data-driven design, and supply-chain integration could converge to deliver a scalable, low-carbon industrial facility aligned with the UK’s clean-energy ambitions.
Although Britishvolt later restructured, the design intelligence and spatial strategy developed during this phase continue to inform future redevelopment of the Cambois site as a strategic hub for advanced manufacturing and data infrastructure.