A 2,650m² ground-up distribution warehouse for a regional 3PL operator on a brownfield plot adjacent to the M6 corridor — 25m clear-span steel portal frame, four dock-level loading bays, ESFR sprinkler system, 480m² mezzanine office and a 1,400m² secured HGV yard. Delivered to a customer go-live date locked into the 3PL's downstream contract.
A regional third-party logistics operator with three existing North West facilities had won a 5-year fulfilment contract with a national retailer. The contract carried a customer go-live date that, for commercial reasons, would not move. The operator needed a 2,500m² new build, fully sprinklered, with four dock bays and a yard sized for 16m articulated vehicles, on a plot they had identified adjacent to the M6 corridor in Warrington.
We were one of four contractors invited to tender on a design-and-build basis. We won the contract because our submission was the only one to publish a critical-path analysis showing the steel-fabrication slot booking, the sprinkler design coordination with the proposed racking layout, and the SuDS attenuation discharge consent as the three items most likely to move the go-live date — and because we committed to liquidated damages reflecting the operator's downstream exposure if the building was not handed over by the contracted date.
Fourteen months later, the operator took occupancy seven days inside the contracted programme. Their racking installer was on site the day after handover, the first HGV reversed onto Bay 1 in week three of occupancy, and the customer go-live happened on the date in their original contract. Final account settled at the contract sum.
The brief came from the operator's operations director and finance director jointly. The list reflected a logistics operator's priorities, which are not the same as a developer's:
An industrial new-build warehouse looks straightforward on paper — a shed, a yard, some sprinklers. The interactions between those elements are where projects of this scale slip.
A 1,400m² impermeable yard and a 2,650m² roof generate a serious volume of surface water. The Lead Local Flood Authority's discharge limit was 5 l/s/ha — far below greenfield run-off. The drainage strategy used 240m³ of subsurface attenuation crates beneath the yard, a hydrobrake flow-control device, and a permeable paving treatment to the front car park. Discharge consent was secured pre-start, not during the build.
UK structural steel fabrication has multi-month lead times for portal frames of this scale. The fabrication slot for the 25m-span frame was booked the day the contract was signed, against drawings 80% complete — with a small revision allowance. Trying to book the slot after design freeze would have added eight weeks to the critical path.
FM2 flatness across 2,650m² of slab requires laser-screed methodology, controlled curing, and post-pour survey to BS 8204-2 with a Floor Profileograph. The slab specialist worked in three pour zones, each surveyed within 72 hours of pour. One zone failed initial survey on a localised 1.8m strip and was diamond-ground to specification before sign-off.
ESFR sprinkler design depends entirely on the storage configuration beneath it. The operator's racking layout, storage commodity classification and aisle spacing were finalised with the LPCB-certificated sprinkler designer in week 6 of design, then frozen. Subsequent racking layout changes would have triggered a sprinkler redesign and a new approval cycle — a conversation we were able to avoid.
The plot was 8m narrower than ideal for a 16m artic turning circle in front of four dock bays. The yard layout was iterated five times in design, eventually placing the dock face at a 7-degree skew to the building face. Drivable for any 16m vehicle, signed off by a logistics consultant before planning submission.
BREEAM Very Good demands a credit strategy designed in from RIBA Stage 2, not retrofitted at completion. Our BREEAM Assessor was on the design team from week one, with credits tracked weekly: site management, energy, water, materials, ecology, pollution. Final post-construction review delivered 62.4% — comfortably inside Very Good (55%+).
Industrial new builds at this scale succeed when the design and procurement decisions made in months one and two protect the customer go-live date 14 months later.
Steel slot first, design second. The first major commercial decision was booking the steel fabrication slot at contract signature, with a clear understanding that the design would be 80% complete on submission and 100% complete two weeks before fabrication started. This is uncommon. Most contractors freeze design first, then start hunting fabrication slots. We inverted the sequence and protected the longest lead-time item in the programme.
Sprinklers locked to racking, racking locked to sprinklers. We co-located the ESFR sprinkler designer and the operator's racking specialist in a single workshop in week 4. They produced a coordinated layout document signed by both parties: storage commodity classification, rack height, aisle spacing, sprinkler K-factor, head spacing, water demand. Frozen. Any subsequent change required both signatures — which protected both budget and programme.
Drainage consent in the pre-construction phase. The Lead Local Flood Authority's discharge consent process can run 8–12 weeks. We submitted in week 3 of design, secured consent in week 11, and broke ground in week 14 with the strategy already approved. No discharge-consent variations during the build. No unwanted conversations with Building Control.
Phased handover, not big-bang. The 14-month programme was structured as three phases handing over in sequence: shell weathertight (month 7), mezzanine office complete and certified (month 11), full M&E and yard commissioned (month 14). The operator's racking installer mobilised on day 1 of phase 3. The first HGV reversed onto Bay 1 in week 3 of occupancy.
Sixty calendar weeks from breaking ground to handover, sequenced backwards from the customer go-live date.
Site setup, hoarding, welfare and security cabin. Existing brownfield contamination removed and validated. 18,000m³ of earthworks, cut-and-fill balanced on site. Subsurface attenuation crate installation, hydrobrake commissioned to discharge limit.
Reinforced concrete pad foundations to all portal frame columns. Strip foundations to perimeter walls and dock pit walls. Building Control inspection and sign-off on substructure. Statutory utility connections (electricity, water, telecoms, gas) coordinated and brought to plot edge.
2,650m² slab in three laser-screed pour zones. Polypropylene fibre-reinforced concrete with mesh layer at 75mm cover. Each zone power-floated and surveyed for FM2 flatness within 72 hours. One zone diamond-ground on a 1.8m strip to achieve specification.
25m clear-span portal frame craned in over four weeks, eaves height 9.0m, ridge 11.4m. Cold-rolled secondary steelwork (purlins, side rails) followed in week 28. Mezzanine steel framing for the 480m² office floor erected concurrently.
Composite cladding panels (Kingspan QuadCore) to roof and walls, U-value 0.20 W/m²K. Rooflights to 12% of roof area for daylight credits. Building reached weathertight on week 30 — phase 1 handover milestone, four days inside target.
ESFR sprinkler installation: 100m³ break tank, dual-pump set in dedicated pump house, ESFR K-25 pendant heads on coordinated grid matched to racking layout. Mezzanine office Cat-A fit-out: raised access flooring, partitions, M&E. Phase 2 handover at month 11.
Four hydraulic dock levellers installed and commissioned (6-tonne capacity, 2,000mm x 2,000mm platforms). Inflatable dock shelters fitted, vehicle restraints commissioned. Internal LED lighting on PIR/daylight controls. Anti-condensation heating to roof void zones.
200mm reinforced concrete yard pavement, 7-degree skew to building face for 16m artic turning circle. Permeable paving to front car park. Palisade perimeter fencing 3.0m height. ANPR access control commissioned. Soft landscaping for ecology credits.
Full M&E commissioning. Sprinkler hydraulic test and certification. Fire alarm commissioning. BREEAM post-construction review: 62.4% Very Good. Building Control completion. CDM Health & Safety File and O&M manuals delivered. Keys handed to operations director seven days inside contracted date.
The technical detail behind a fully-commissioned distribution warehouse.
Single-bay portal frame, 25m clear span, 9.0m eaves, 11.4m ridge. UK-fabricated S275 sections. Cold-rolled Z-section purlins and side rails. Bracing to two end bays.
250mm laser-screeded concrete with polypropylene fibres and mesh. FM2 flatness rating verified to BS 8204-2. Designed for 8 t/m² UDL and 60 kN point load (rack uprights).
Kingspan QuadCore composite roof and wall panels. Roof U-value 0.20 W/m²K, wall U-value 0.22 W/m²K. 12% rooflight area for daylight credits, anti-condensation backed.
LPC Rules-compliant ESFR system. K-25 pendant heads, 100m³ break tank, dual electric/diesel pump set, 3-bar working pressure. LPCB-certificated installer, hydraulically tested at handover.
4 x hydraulic dock levellers, 2,000 x 2,000mm platforms, 6-tonne capacity, 350mm vertical reach. Inflatable thermal dock shelters. LED dock lights. Vehicle restraint system per bay.
480m² steel-framed mezzanine, 50mm composite deck, fire-rated 60 minutes from below. Open-plan workspace, two meeting rooms, kitchen, accessible WC, separate fire-rated stair core.
1,400m² reinforced concrete pavement, 200mm depth. 16m artic turning circle. 3.0m palisade perimeter fencing, ANPR-controlled vehicle gate, 12-channel CCTV with NVR.
240m³ subsurface attenuation crates beneath yard. Hydrobrake flow-control to 5 l/s/ha discharge. Petrol interceptor on yard outflow. Permeable paving to front car park.
A fully-commissioned 2,650m² distribution warehouse handed over seven days inside the contracted programme, with FM2 slab certification, LPC-compliant ESFR sprinkler hydraulic test, BREEAM Very Good post-construction review at 62.4%, and a yard discharge rate of 3.8 l/s/ha against the consent limit of 5 l/s/ha. The operator's racking installer mobilised the day after handover. The first HGV reversed onto Bay 1 in week three of occupancy. The customer go-live happened on the date in the original 5-year contract.
Final account settled at the contract sum of £1,850,000. No variation orders. The operator has subsequently engaged us on a feasibility study for a second warehouse on the same estate.
We won a five-year contract on the strength of being able to take customer pallets on a date we couldn't move. Building Group were the only contractor who treated that date as theirs as much as ours. Booking the steel fabrication slot in the same week the contract was signed was the moment I knew we'd chosen the right firm. The sprinkler design coordination workshop in week six saved us a redesign cycle that would have cost us six weeks. The slab passed FM2 first measurement on two zones out of three and they ground the third without a conversation about who was paying for it. We're now in feasibility on a second site with them.
If you're planning a distribution warehouse, manufacturing facility or industrial unit on a hard customer go-live date, we'll come out for a free site visit, walk the plot with your operations team and put a critical-path methodology document on your desk — with steel slot booking, sprinkler coordination and discharge consent already mapped against your timeline.
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