Distribution Centre / Warehouse

This 20,000sqm distribution centre, with a 2,500sqm office component, is located in Richmond Park Business Park in Cape Town. We had our work cut out from the start of the project. The varied soil conditions meant that on-site decisions had to be made to correctly, while assessing and managing the conditions for the foundations’ design requirements. Our efficient structural engineering design had to account for the internal warehouse operations and racking requirements on a 21mx27m column grid. This influenced the positions of floor joints and columns.

The biggest challenge we had to deal with was due to the geometry of the warehouse – namely, effectively distributing the wind loads through the structure without losing the design efficiency. The collaboration with the professional team and main contractor was key to successfully delivering the project within the shortened timeline.

While only the initial phase of the warehouse was built, we also factored in design considerations for future expansions of the warehouse and offices. This enabled our client to avoid abortive costs and streamline future construction without impacting operations of the facility in future.