Retail & Commercial

Temporary Buildings for Retail and Commercial Use

Typical uses:

Temporary buildings for retail and commercial use are used where additional covered space is required to support day-to-day operations without disrupting existing activity. They provide practical, adaptable environments that allow businesses, including retailers and garden centres, to respond to seasonal demand, refurbishment works, or site constraints.
Suitable for short-term or long-term use, these buildings support ongoing commercial activity while allowing space to be added, relocated, or repurposed as operational requirements change.

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Retail and Commercial Use Buildings

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Retail and Commercial Design Considerations

Retail and commercial environments place specific demands on buildings: clear access for customers and deliveries, layouts that support efficient stock movement and staffing, and spaces that meet the expectations of public-facing use. Buildings must integrate with live operations while maintaining safety, accessibility and a professional appearance.

For garden centres, buildings must also provide weather protection for plants and stock while maintaining open, welcoming customer circulation.

Seasonal demand, refurbishment works, or business expansion can all create the need for additional space at short notice. Buildings need to accommodate this change while allowing day-to-day operations to continue smoothly.

Our buildings for retail and commercial use are available in three building types, allowing the building to be matched precisely to how it will be used:

Canopy commercial buildings
Used where weather protection and open access are required. Canopies provide covered space for entrances, queuing areas, loading, or temporary retail activity while maintaining visibility and ease of movement.

Non-insulated commercial buildings
Provide enclosed, secure space at ambient temperature. Suitable for retail overflow, temporary showrooms, stockholding, or operational support where protection and presentation are required but full temperature control is not.

Insulated commercial buildings
Used where staff or customers occupy the space for extended periods or where a more controlled internal environment is required. Suitable for customer-facing retail, pop-up stores, or commercial workspaces.

Selecting the right structure type at the outset ensures commercial space remains effective as trading patterns and operational needs change.

Industrial Canopy

Uninsulated Building

Insulated Building

The Benefits of Aluminium Framed Buildings

Our cost-effective aluminium framed buildings can be erected quickly in just a few days. Low transport and assembly costs help keep the overall cost of temporary buildings below comparable traditionally built permanent alternatives.

Cantilever span
from 5m to 30m

High wind and
snow loads

Temporary and permanent industrial building solutions

Infinitely expandable
building length

Ground anchoring with and without foundations

Bespoke building sizes and equipment available on request

Wall heights
up to 8.3m

Building Design for Adaptable Retail and Commercial Space

Retail and commercial operations benefit from clear internal space that supports flexible layouts and changing use. Our structures are designed with wide spans and no internal support columns, allowing shelving, displays, work areas, or customer circulation to be arranged around operational requirements.

A wide range of door and access options can be incorporated to suit customer entry, deliveries, and staffing needs. Separate service and personnel access can be provided where required, supporting safe operation while maintaining a clear distinction between public and operational areas.

The build process itself is often a key consideration for retail and commercial environments. Structures can be installed quickly and, in many cases, without the need for traditional foundations, allowing additional space to be introduced on existing hardstanding with minimal disruption to live operations.
A range of glazing and window options can be incorporated to maximise natural light and visibility, helping customer-facing spaces feel open, welcoming, and aligned with the standards expected in retail and commercial settings.

These design considerations ensure the completed building supports effective customer-facing and operational use from day one, while remaining adaptable as trading patterns and space requirements change.

Need Advice?

If you’d like guidance on selecting the most appropriate building for your retail or commercial operation, speak to our team. We’ll advise based on site constraints, customer use, operational requirements, and how your space may need to evolve over time.

Next Steps

We can provide an early-stage project report outlining a suitable structural approach and a ballpark cost range to support initial planning and internal decision-making.
This can then be followed by a free site visit. After the site visit, we produce a project-specific report based on confirmed requirements, site conditions, and intended use.

Want to know more?

If you’d like a deeper understanding of how we support projects beyond the structure itself, the links below explain our approach.

Testimonials

Read what our customers have to say

From the very beginning, the team was extremely professional and full of knowledge of the HR Structure product range. Very quickly we were able to identify the type of building we require. Originally, we had specified a corrugated building however, when we saw the quality of the HR Structures, the decision was made to change. As well as the quality, the fact the structures are modular allows us to modify these in the future as we grow. The supply of quotations and drawings was timely, including additional information requests to support the planning process.

HR were great to deal with from start to finish, from our original remit through to handover of the building HR were professional and efficient. Our project was delivered on time as promised.

HR Structures have provided us with a great product and great service on more than one occasion. We wouldn’t hesitate in using them for our next project and we would always recommend them to anyone looking for a quality product from a professional team.

I would highly recommend HR Structures. A team of professionals you can trust. Fast, reliable and helpful. I've used HR Structures for a temporary building which is now used as a Warehouse, great choice.

Just reaching out to you to say that we were very happy with the service you provided with our temporary warehouse. The product and fitting team were excellent and worked well alongside our colleagues. I would also like to thank you for coming over and fitting the missing gutter stop ends and making sure the project was finished, personally which was a great piece of customer service. I would highly recommend HR structures and your team to anyone who is thinking of erecting a warehouse now or in future.

We engaged HR Structures to supply two temporary structures at our Tamworth depot and were thoroughly impressed with both the quality of the equipment and the professionalism of the service provided. The entire process was efficient, reliable, and delivered to a high standard.

I have worked with HR Structures on a couple of projects and have found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful with the ability to achieve tight deadlines.

Contact us

We manufacture all of our aluminium framed structures in our production facility in Germany. With a highly qualified team of industry experts, we manage everything from planning, design, manufacturing, delivery to site and assembly of the finished industrial structures.