sbh.uk - Industrial Development - Eastleigh distribution centre
Date: 03 Jul 2003
Business as usual for Brakes while sbh.uk project manages increased storage
Multi temperature food service company Brakes successfully maintained its customer service during a 24 week programme to enlarge its Eastleigh distribution centre. Managed by specialist property company sbh.uk, the project involved constructing an extension to the existing cold store to accommodate a new cold store and converting the current building into a chilled storage area.
Ensuring that deliveries kept to schedule and that the temperature integrity of the store was protected throughout the work required careful planning and constant discipline. In planning the project co-ordination, sbh.uk established a programme to ensure smooth working during every stage and the final transition between stores, including interface disciplines between the main and sub-contractors. sbh.uk also acted as planning supervisors, covering working and safety issues which apply to an occupied store being converted.
Brakes is the leading quality food supplier to caterers in the UK, and decided to extend its capacity to cater for the growing market in chilled foods by adding a chilled store facility to its Eastleigh distribution centre. With adjacent land available the company had the space to create a larger unit divided into chilled and cold temperature storage.
As sbh.uk had worked on a number of projects for Brakes they were involved from the initial stages in preparing budgets and plans for the new centre, and in particular the need for the work to be phased to avoid any disruption to store operations and customer deliveries. Working space was cleared to provide access for early morning deliveries and returning vehicles later in the day.
The scheme provided for 856m² of –22°C and 512m² of chill storage. The two areas are linked by an insulated chill tunnel for pedestrian and electric hand pallet truck access running from the chill store to a 174m² chill loading bay, serviced by three dock leveller access doors. The stores are linked to alarms for the ammonia driven refrigeration equipment, fire and general intruder systems.
As well as building the extension, the project involved stripping out the existing fixings and mezzanine floor and installing a new insulated box, supporting steelwork, refrigeration and electrical fittings to create the new cold store. The new store floor uses a standard granolithic concrete and Styrofoam design which together with a heater mat prevents frost damage.
Related website: sbh.uk
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