Maximise the use of factory space

As the price of property soars, more and more businesses are looking for ways of maximising the amount of space available to them, writes Malcolm Jeary.

As the price of property soars, more and more businesses are looking for ways of maximising the amount of space available to them.

In many instances this means utilising available headroom with the installation of a mezzanine floor.

Traditionally, mezzanine floors were installed in warehouse and storage areas, but today they can be found in almost every building from units to factories and office blocks to airports.

The origins of the steel mezzanine floor can probably be traced by to the beginning of the 19th century when the first steel buildings were constructed in the USA.

Since then, specifically designed mezzanines, combined with existing environmental controls such as heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation etc.

have enabled mezzanines to become the most cost effective way of adding floor space by going up not out.

Mezzanines are now utilised for a wide-range of functions including storage, work platforms, manufacturing space, catwalk structures and observation platforms, office and retail space, bin and rack support, archive storage.

At around GBP 60/m2, they are an inexpensive way of providing additional storage space on one or more levels, extra floor space on or below the mezzanine level and multi-tier display areas.

Mezzanines can also be used to add additional manufacturing areas, and can be used for order picking from shelving and racking at more than one level.

They can also help to improve distribution and throughput in a warehousing environment.

Easily and quickly constructed, mezzanines can be installed at the rate of 50m2 per day including ancillaries, handrail, staircases and loading gates.

* Innovation - mezzanines were formerly constructed primarily from hot rolled steel sections and most often with the secondary beams placed across the top of the main beams.

Improvement in the stability of those beams was brought about by design changes allowing the secondary beams to be fixed to the web of the main beams.

An additional benefit is the reduction in 'floor depth' - the distance from the bottom of the largest steel beam to the top of the decking material, commonly known as a 'slimline' construction.

The availability of a wider range of lightweight, cold-rolled section enabled lighter structures to be designed, with resultant cost and imposed load benefits.

The huge variety of steel sections now available enables designers to produce mezzanines with large column grids and in almost any shape, to suit all types of installation.

In commercial applications, it is possible to build the mezzanine whereby customers are unable to feel any difference between walking on a structural mezzanine and walking on a concrete floor.

* Access and means of escape - this is practically the 'be all and end all' of mezzanine design.

Whether it is a structure to enable additional levels for manufacturing or storage or for office accommodation, a principal tenet of the design is to ensure that people on the structure have a safe and readily available means of getting off the floor, to a safe location.

* Building regulations (UK) - mezzanines have to be designed and constructed in accordance to BRE Digest 437 (the Guidance on Industrial Platform Floors) and BS5950, which ensure the first resistance of steel and steel/concrete composite structures.

In addition, the design of handrail balustrades and staircases must generally be in accordance with approved document Park K of the Building Regulations (Protection from falling, collision and impact) and the approved document Part M in accordance with the DDA.

* Total building system integration - companies such as Spaceway South can provide a totally integrated solution.

Once the mezzanine is erected additional installations can be carried out on or below the mezzanine.

Partitions for offices, reception suits, conference rooms, storage and warehousing can all be part of the total package.

The use of the latest AutoCAD, Xsteel and Multi-Suite software ensures state-of-the-art structure design, which not only complies with current British Standards for Design of Structural Steelwork but also provides the best option in space utilisation, minimising ground floor obstruction whilst maximising the economies of structural steelwork.

Case studies - Spaceway South designed, manufactured and installed three separate mezzanine floors at the Boots The Chemist warehouse in Nottingham, UK.

The mezzanines were installed during the rebuilding of D82 warehouse, which had been destroyed in a fire.

Project Phoenix began just eight days after the blaze with Spaceway South completing all the floors to a very high specification.

The three mezzanines measuring 1168m2, 930m2 and 77m2 included an 8mm thick durbar plate surface with large spans, built to withstand a handling system which included overhead chain conveyors, racking and tote conveyors.

* About the author - Malcolm Jeary is managing director of Spaceway South.

Back to top