Client: 3663
Project: Warehouse Conversion
Locations: Staffordshire

On a trading estate near Lichfield, Staffordshire, leading cold store and cold room contractor ISD has transformed the interior of an existing warehouse for food service company, 3663.

The Fradley Park distribution centre contract from Ashford Construction has seen the contractor divide the 120m by 85m existing facility into a -25 degrees C freezer, (measuring 74m by 31m, rising to 10.9m), using 175mm PIR Kingspan wall and ceiling panels.

The facility is strikingly different from standard distribution centres with two distinct features.

Firstly, though the facility generally shares its configuration with standard combined freezers and chill stores, at Fradley more than 65% of the available space has been used to create freezer and ambient storage, required for the wide variety of product carried by 3663.

To achieve this configuration, the new chill marshalling area, complete with its 10 dock doors and measuring 87m by 49 m and 8m high, has been formed adjoining the freezer in a dedicated section of the store.

Increased loads from the freezer, chill ceiling panels and refrigeration plant required the roof to be reinforced with additional steelwork. Subsequently, ties and strengtheners were then introduced between the portals to act as upgraded wind braces.

In the critical 12-week, fast track programme, successfully maintained by Ashford Construction and ISD, the existing dock doors were removed to be replaced with dock pods, specified by 3663. Finally, as part of its environmentally conscious construction programmes, ISD then recycled the dock units to form new internal doors.

In the second divergence from standard cold store and freezer design, an insulated pod, 10m by 9m by 6m high, with separate entry and exit doors, (complete with dehumidification plant to reduce ice formation on the vertical doors), was constructed between the marshalling area and the freezer.

With a 45cm height difference in the chill marshalling area and freezer floors, resulting from the installation of the glycol heater mat over the original floor of the building, the pod sits over a 10m ramp with the entry and exit doors at the far-end.

For additional safety, the freezer entry point has been effectively segregated from the exit route, by Armco barriers to eliminate dangerous accidents between forklift trucks.

Located just 750 metres off the busy A38, claimed to be Europe’s busiest trunk road, the new store is ideally situated and joins five other 3663 facilities completed by ISD and Ashford Construction at Southampton, Gateshead, Nottingham, Cannock and Harlow.

Installation began with the new freezer

The completed freezer is brought down to temperature

Main Marshalling area

The entry to and exit from the pod