A perfect warehouse building

Pre-engineered buildings (PEBs) are widely used for low rise industrial and commercial structures. The advantage of using PEB for industrial and commercial structures are multi-fold. A warehouse building is a typical low-rise structure spread across a large area and used for the storage of finished goods, raw materials or any other type of goods. The building may have office area, utilities room etc, inside the building. Major part of the area will be used for storing goods and transporting it. The type of goods will govern the storage method. Stacking and racking are some of the common storage methods.

The design of a warehouse is governed by its layout. Clear spans and long aisles are required as per the usage of warehouse. Storage and movement of the materials inside the building govern the building plan.

One of the latest projects recently executed by Everest is a warehouse building for Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd. The building is an example of a perfectly executed warehouse building. The facility is going to be used by India’s leading e-commerce giant as a distribution center. A brief study about the project is given below.

Project brief

Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd is a top textile manufacturer in the country with other businesses under Its group. The company planned to build a warehouse for its business arm that is in the warehouse business. They associated with Everest for executing the pre-engineered building. The customer had worked with Everest and acknowledged that Everest has a reputation of being the most reliable partner in the industry.

Everest employs advanced manufacturing processes at its plant. The company has adopted latest digital technologies for material management, resource allocation, construction management. This gave customer the credence to choose Everest. Adding to the previous relationship of the customer with Everest, the excellent customer service offered by Everest made it stand out from its competitors during the bidding the processes. 

Geometry

The warehouse has an area of over 3.5 lakh sq. ft. The width of the building is more than 130 m and it required large in unobstructed spaces for the movement of forklifts to transport goods. Everest designed multi-span frame with optimum column spacing to achieve the layout requirements. Jack portals and Jack beams were provided to reduce interior columns for unhindered space required for material movement inside the building.

Architectural features

The building has mezzanine area along its length. Flooring was provided using concrete over deck sheet to bear human and material loads. Shear studs were provided for non-composite joists for lighter sections.

The customer was very particular about leakage. Standing seam roofing was provided for superior water tightness and longer roof life. For draining rainwater, gutters and down-takes for appropriate rainfall Intensity have been designed.

Roof monitor and s-type louvers were provided to provide adequate ventilation Inside the building. This Improves circulation and maintains air quality Inside the building. 

Uniqueness

The building has future expansion on both end walls. This called for careful designing of end walls as the wall cladding would be removed during expansion. The end wall columns were designed accordingly.

The building’s length is more than 200 m. This creates temperature effects and induces thermal stresses on the structure. Slotted purlin holes were provided to allow thermal expansion and contraction. This will negate the effect of temperature variation.

The building had requirement of pipe racks and cable trays. Hence, brackets were designed at specific location for the given loading.

Challenges 

The building had two Important aspects that remain the concern of all customers. They are the cost of the building and time of construction. Everest ensured that the cost of the building Is economical with respect to weight and also construction. Since the project had a very short timeline, the design and release of the drawings had to take place in a very tight schedule. The material dispatch had to follow the erection sequence which required accurate planning. Any error would cost the cost the company Its plans of commencing operations on time. Everest addressed all challenges quickly and successfully delivered the project.

In conclusion  

The expertise and experience of Everest in the steel building Industry gave customer the confidence that Its project will be completed on time and it can carry on with Its business plans as per schedule. Economy and timeline were adhered by the manufacturer, Everest which resulted in a success for all the stakeholders of the project.