Duxford: Field Force motor transport storage shed

The Field Force motor transport storage shed, known as Building 104, was built in 1939 based on designs by J H Binge from the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings.

This rectangular structure is oriented on a north-east to south-west axis and features brick walls, steel-framed windows, steel trusses, and a pantile roof covering. It is a single-storey building with a double-height interior and an M-profile hipped roof. The exterior walls are made of red brick laid in Flemish bond, topped with a brick parapet that partially hides the roof. A projecting cast-concrete eaves course serves as a top rail for the sliding doors located on the long south-east and north-west elevations. Steel gutters are hidden behind the parapet, while exposed hoppers and downpipes are found on the end north-east and south-west elevations. Each end elevation has four bays of clerestory windows featuring 6-pane steel-framed windows. The long elevations are lined with 11 continuous leaves of steel-framed and clad sliding doors, and each end has a single-leaf steel door. The building measures approximately 18 meters wide and 48 meters long.

Inside, the shed has a height of about 4.5 meters and is divided into 12 bays, each approximately 4 meters long. The roof structure consists of steel fan trusses and steel purlins supporting timber boarding and rolled steel joists, all resting on central continuous beams set on reinforced-concrete piers. The end walls are clad in cavity brick. In the late 20th century, a breeze-block partition wall was added between bays 6 and 7, effectively splitting the interior of the building in half. Additionally, the north-east end was further divided with a timber partition frame and wire gauze mesh.