logistics

concretelogistics
concrete

CONCRETE BENEFITS CONCRETE SOLUTIONS CONCRETE PROOF

 Contents
3 Concrete benefits
4 Concrete design solutions
6 Concrete proof:
JCDecaux Warehouse
Amazon Distribution Centre
Ruthin Craft Centre
8 Resources from The Concrete Centre
Concrete Logistics
The UK is unusual in its preponderance for the ubiquitous steel shed. However
2 this could change as the demand for ever more cost-effective construction
of industrial buildings is coupled with a number of construction drivers that
question the assumption that steel portal frames and cladding offer the best
structural solution.
These drivers include:
• Sustainability • Fire resistance
• Air tightness • Security
• Robustness
Throughout Continental Europe, the United States and Australia, the
construction material of choice for industrial buildings is concrete. Clients who
are familiar with concrete superstructure and wall cladding, often demand their
design teams to provide a similar solution in the UK. In addition, the volatility
of steel prices and the rise of sustainability are increasingly prompting UK
clients to ask design teams for a concrete solution.
The concrete sector offers alternatives that in addition to offering flexibility,
speed of construction and long-term performance, also provide a wide range
of benefits which are built-in and have no additional cost. As owners and
occupiers look to get the most out of their industrial buildings, the case for
concrete industrial buildings looks like becoming even more compelling.
Andrew Minson
Executive Director, The Concrete Centre
Concrete industry’s sustainability vision
The concrete industry has developed and is implementing a sustainability
strategy that the whole sector can sign up to. The initiative will support those
in the warehouse and logistics sector wanting to ensure that their properties
are sustainable.
The launch of the first Performance Report in March 2009 marked a milestone
for the concrete industry. The Report examines the challenges being faced,
and provides a statement of achievement. Importantly, it provides industry
data across 14 performance indicators against which the concrete sector has
committed to be benchmarked against and to improve upon.
The performance indicators are wide ranging and include the implementation
of environmental management systems, reduction of waste and carbon
emissions, improved energy efficiency and the provision of locally sourced
materials. In addition, there are commitments to enhance the environment
and create sustainable communities.
The publication of the Performance Report and establishment of performance
indicator targets form part of the commitments undertaken by nine major
companies and seven trade bodies within the concrete industry who, in
July 2008, signed up to a Sustainable Concrete Declaration. The Declaration
commits them to a common vision where "by 2012, the UK concrete industry
will be recognised as the leader in sustainable construction, by taking a
dynamic role in delivering a sustainable built environment in a manner that
is profitable, socially responsible and , functions within environmental
limits”. The Performance Report is available to download from
www.concretecentre.com/publications.
The Performance Report and Sustainability Declaration are based on
recommendations from leading sustainability consultants Optimat following
extensive stakeholder engagement. Industry funding for the initiative was
invested via the central development organisation for the industry, The
Concrete Centre.
 Tilt-up is an in-situ concrete solution that uses local materials and has a short lead time.
Benefits of concrete
Concrete construction is recognised as offering a wide range
of performance benefits. These include thermal efficiency, fire
resistance and minimum maintenance. These benefits are
long-term, built-in and have no additional capital cost whilst
offering the potential for significant operational cost savings.
For industrial buildings, concrete construction offers a range
of specific benefits. These include:
Built-in fire resistance
Concrete can offer up to four hours fire resistance, well beyond
the 30 minutes stipulated by the Building Requirements. This level
of resistance is welcomed by fire fighters who often have to enter
burning buildings. It is also welcomed by the building occupier who
will want to repair the damage and return to business-as-usual
as quickly as possible after a fire rather than have to have the
premises closed, then demolished and rebuilt.
Cast concrete walls or concrete block walls are often used to
provide fire compartmentation within steel-framed buildings.
These walls could also be used as part of the load-bearing
structure to provide a more efficient overall solution though this
may compromise future flexibility.
Air tightness
There is a direct correlation between the air tightness of a
building’s envelope and its energy performance. A high rate of air
leakage can account for up to 20-50 per cent of heat loss from a
building. Good air tightness will reduce the on going operational
costs of heating and cooling.
Concrete structures offer a high rate of air tightness with minimum
air leakage from interface and joint detailing. Concrete buildings
can easily achieve the required air-leakage rates both at project
completion and during the lifetime of the building as a stiffer
structure with fewer joints will maintain its air tightness better
than less rigid structures.
Precast sandwich panels can be made and delivered just-in-time.
Built-in security
Security is a major consideration for industrial buildings. Concrete
walls offer greater resistance to unlawful entry such as ram-raiding
and prevent the opportunity for thieves to cut through lightweight
steel warehouse walls. In addition, robust concrete walls offer
3
greater resistance to the impact damage that is often caused by
fork-lift trucks.
Solid walls are often provided for this reason, sometimes up to
1800mm to 2400mm thick. Simply extending these to eave level
would provide an efficient structural and secure solution.
Inherent flood resilience
The choice of building materials and finishes should maximise
flood resilience by minimising damage and the time taken to
refurbish. Concrete industrial buildings can be designed to be flood
resilient by not absorbing significant amounts of water and not
being prone to long-term deterioration.
As important is the robustness of the cladding to waterborne
debris. Here, the robustness of concrete solutions far outperforms
lightweight alternatives.
Inherent robustness
One of the predicted impacts of climate change is more extreme
weather patterns, in particular storms. It is envisaged that warmer
temperatures could increase the severity of storms in the UK by
some 20 per cent. Concrete’s inherent robustness enables buildings
to better weather such high winds and associated wind borne
‘missiles’.
Local, abundant and responsibly sourced
Using local materials contributes to construction products
being responsibly sourced. This has positive social and economic
benefits and minimises the impact upon the environment. The
use of abundant materials such as aggregates, ensures that the
development ability of future generations is not compromised by
the development of this generation.
 The concrete solution uses very simple principles for both
Propping Force design and construction and comprises concrete walls
Concrete from Roof Concrete
Wall Wall with a lightweight roof. By using products already in the
marketplace, there are many contractors and designers
who have experience of this form of construction. It really
Internal Slab Internal Slab is that simple.

Foundation Foundation
(may be piled) (may be piled)

Propped, recommended for Cantilever, recommended for

height to eaves of 12m and above height to eaves of up to 6m

Concrete design solutions

The UK concrete sector offers a number of efficient and cost-effective construction solutions
for industrial buildings. These range from propped or cantilevered walls which can be precast
in a factory or cast in situ on-site and simply tilted into position. Concrete solutions offer
innovation combined with the traditional, inherent benefits of heavyweight construction.

Proven overseas performance Drivers for concrete construction

Unlike the rest of the world where concrete sheds are commonly used,
in the UK steel portal frames have dominated the market for long
span single storey industrial buildings. However, increasingly overseas
companies investing or locating in the UK are questioning
that dominance.
Throughout Europe concrete sheds are widely used not only for the
provision of long spans – pre-stressed concrete beams spanning up
to 42m can be used – but for high roof loads to incorporate heavy
air handling units. Concrete sheds are also specified for the variety of
architectural solutions that they provide.
Precast, pre-stressed roof elements, which evoke memories of in-situ
concrete shell structures from the mid 20th century, have evolved
through many stages. For example, in Northern Italy they are now of previous experience of steel portal frames collapsing during fire.
commonly used to provide 25-35m clear spans. These elements have
evolved from short panels that were used in place of purlins and
sheeting to span between concrete primary roof beams. By increasing
the structural depth and prestressing, the structural capacity of the
panels is made sufficient to replace the primary roof elements. The long
panels provide both cladding and primary structure.
Initially, these primary roof elements – like the short cladding panels
before them – consisted of four planes in the geometry of a hip-ended
roof. However, greater structural efficiency was gained by curving the
section both longitudinally and laterally. In some cases, sister units were
used alternatively to provide northern roof lights. See www.zecca.com
for examples.
The success of concrete construction for industrial buildings is proven
overseas. It is a success that clients are able to achieve in the UK.
Out of all the benefits that are cited as reasons to use concrete for the
construction of industrial buildings, two have particular resonance: fire
resistance and sustainability.
Every year there are some 2,500 warehouse fires in the UK. Warehouse
fires usually spread very quickly. Research by the Building Research
Establishment (BRE) found that a fire can reach the top of a 10m high
racking bay in as little as two minutes. The research also found that
typically a local fire brigade can take up to 20 minutes before being
operational on-site by which time it is unlikely that the blaze can be
controlled and the building and contents saved. Furthermore, as the
prime objective of the fire fighters is to save lives and not property, they
will often not venture into a building to fight a warehouse fire because
A number of high profile warehouse fires have focussed attention on the
performance of industrial buildings in fires. In contrast to lightweight
construction, concrete has inherent fire resistance, well beyond the 30
minutes stipulated by the Building Regulations. With minimal additional
design, concrete can offer up to four hours of fire resistance. This benefit
is welcomed by fire fighters, building occupiers and of course by insurers
who may well want to reward such concrete building owners with
lower premiums.
A further built-in advantage, and one that is becoming a major driver
for the specification of concrete construction, is that of sustainability.
The main drivers for sustainable warehouse projects are typically
energy usage which can be addressed by insulation, air tightness and
thermal mass, as well as better building control systems and maximising
natural daylighting.
More stringent air tightness construction criteria have resulted in
design teams and clients reconsidering their previous building solutions.
Compared to the number and type of joints necessary with some panel
systems, concrete walls can provide a practical solution. With sheds,
the ratio of wall-to-roof areas is small so air-tightness for the overall
building can be improved not only through the use of concrete walls but
also significantly by the option of using concrete roof elements.

Concrete also provides high levels of built-in thermal mass which evens
out the fluctuations of internal temperatures by absorbing the heat of
the day and releasing it during the night. This can reduce initial plant
costs and ongoing operational costs for air-conditioning. With summer
temperatures in the UK predicted to rise due to climate change the
thermal mass of concrete can play an increasingly important role in
reducing the reliance on energy intensive air-conditioning. Climate
change is also predicted to result in increased storm and flooding
severity. Here, the robustness and longevity of concrete solutions will
increasingly be appreciated.

Concrete shed construction is therefore a real alternative for industrial,

warehouse and retail sheds.

Concrete solutions for the UK

A study undertaken by The Concrete Centre underlined the demand
for a cost-effective alternative to the ubiquitous steel shed. The
study analysed structural options and found a latent demand for
concrete solutions.
5
The recommended solution is a concrete load-bearing wall with
a lightweight roof as this straightforward design and construction
approach can be easily adopted. The load-bearing walls can be propped
or cantilevered. Both wall options are structurally multi-functional in
that they carry the vertical load and provide all the longitudinal bracing.
They do not have intrusive column instands, which can account for up
to 5 per cent of space in portal frame sheds. Both will offer high levels Bouygues UK has cast the sports hall walls for the Pimlico Academy, London, using
metal shutters 10.4m high by 8.4m wide. This allowed the entire sports hall structure
of air-tightness compared with steel portal frames. In addition, they to be cast on-site in just under one month. The technique could be easily adapted for
provide, without additional cost, thermal efficiency, fire resistance warehouse construction.
and security.

The construction of the roof is simplified as the roof beams are simply
supported on the walls. The spacing of the roof beams can be optimised
to suit the overall roof structure and is not dictated by perimeter Many concrete construction techniques
column spacing. Roofs maybe lightweight or heavyweight with the latter
providing extra thermal performance. being used by other construction sectors
The use of load-bearing concrete walls provides a real and cost-effective warrant examination for their use for
solution. For further information and the recommendations from this
study see ‘Shed Structures: A New Approach’.
warehouse construction.

One such technique is the use of high wall

shuttering. The metal shutters incorporate
formwork for all openings and apertures
and are operated on a two-day cycle from
planning to concrete pour and are then
moved to the next sequenced position.
 The JCDecaux warehouse was built using an insulated precast concrete sandwich panel system.

JCDecaux Warehouse,
Brentford, London
6 The construction of the warehouse, built as part of the UK headquarters
for JCDecaux, a leading supplier of street furniture, was fast and cost-
effective. The two long wall elevations of the 63m long, 45m wide and
9.65m high warehouse were erected in just 12 days.

The warehouse was built using an insulated precast concrete sandwich

panel system where the two leaves of the precast concrete sandwich
panels are connected by insulation comprising of composite glass fibre
and polymer rods. As well as being extremely strong, the rods have low
thermal conductivity. Typical steel connectors act as thermal bridges
and so transfer heat through the wall, but the Polymer rods maintain
99.7 per cent of the insulation value thereby ensuring lower heating and
cooling costs.

The sandwich panels were precast in a quality-controlled factory

environment with just-in-time delivery for immediate erection. The
design was optimised so that the smallest number of large units could
be used. The cladding panels measured 9m x 3m; the main roof beams
900mm x 400mm; external columns 600mm x 400mm and internal
columns 400mm square.

The external and interior walls have a high architectural finish of white
concrete that incorporates Spanish dolomite for additonal sparkle. No
further treatment and little on-going maintenance is required.
The Ruthin Craft Centre benefited from fast, cost effective construction. ©Ioana Marinescu.
Amazon Distribution Centre,
Swansea
Amazon, the online retailer, has recently opened a distribution centre
that covers 96,000m2, an area equivalent to the size of ten football
pitches. The centre was constructed by German pre-stressed concrete
construction company Bremer AG using concrete units manufactured
at its factory in Paderborn, Germany, and then shipped to South Wales.
Amazon used the system for its distribution centre in Leipzig,
Germany, and impressed with the construction efficiency and
operating performance benefits, the company determined to use the
same concrete approach for the UK.
The frame consists of a precast concrete structure with a column grid
of 24m x 12m. Precast, pre-stressed concrete purlins are located
between the frames. In total there are 470 supports, 250 roof girders
and 1,100 purlins. The facade is constructed from reinforced concrete
sandwich panels designed as thermally-insulated coffered walls with a
metal roof.
Ruthin Craft Centre Gallery
Denbighshire
Designed by architects Sergison Bates, the new £4.4 million Ruthin 7
Craft Centre in the Vale of Clwyd, Denbighshire, is a UK example of
tilt-up construction. The construction was fast and economic and
demonstrates the range of benefits that tilt-up can bring to the
industrial shed market.
The walls of the Craft Centre have been cast in reddish-pink tones with
some areas raked to give a corduroy-like, hand-crafted texture. This
demonstrates the potential that tilt-up construction offers to improve
not only the performance but also the aesthetics of industrial buildings.
Industrial buildings need not be just tin sheds.
Cast on-site tilt-up construction offers a fast and cost-effective option
for concrete industrial buildings. It involves the horizontal casting of
concrete panels on-site and then tilting or lifting them into position to
form the structural walls. The walls of even large buildings can be cast
and erected in as little as four to five weeks. Internal and edge columns
are eliminated thereby saving space and simplifying space planning.
In addition to the enhanced levels of air tightness, thermal and
sound insulation, fire resistance and security, tilt-up panels offer
new opportunities for wall finishes. The panels can be painted, or use
pigmented concrete, or use etched or exposed aggregate surfaces and
can be combined with rebates, patterns and textures.
Tilt-up is used extensively in the USA, Canada and Australia. In the USA,
tilt-up is the market leader for low-rise construction and is used for 60
per cent of all new warehouse and industrial buildings and 10 per cent
of retail buildings. Increasingly tilt-up is being used for two to five storey
buildings. Its benefits include fast construction, enhanced thermal and
sound insulation and inherent fire resistance and it comes with a 100
year pedigree of proven international projects.
 Concrete information
The Concrete Centre is the central development organisation for the UK concrete industry. Its aim is to assist all those involved in design and construction to realise the
full potential of the material. In particular, The Concrete Centre offers a comprehensive range of publications, seminars and courses and online resources.
For further information visit: www.concretecentre.com

The Concrete Centre has published a number of titles that are relevant to industrial buildings many of which can be downloaded from its website,
www.concretecentre.com/publications

Shed Structures: A New Approach Concrete and Fire Safety

A summary report that examines how concrete Building owners, occupiers and insurance companies
industrial buildings offer significant advantages and are are increasingly asking for more than the minumum
extremely simple and cost-effective to construct. In fire resistance as specified by the Building Regulations
fact, if you’re responsible for commissioning, designing, which only provide for life safety. Safe access for
building or managing industrial buildings, this fire fighters and property safety are also important.
publication includes key facts that you should know This report explains how concrete construction can
about concrete sheds. minimise the impact of fire upon a building.

• Ref: TCC/03/29 • Ref: TCC/03/43

• Free PDF download available • Free PDF download available

Utilisation of Thermal Mass in Hybrid Concrete Construction

Non-Residential Buildings

This publication should assist designers wishing This design guide is intended to provide the structural
to exploit thermal mass and includes chapters engineer with essential guidance for the design of
on concrete suspended floor options, integration structures that combine precast and in-situ concrete in
of services, acoustic considerations and surface a hybrid concrete structure. It introduces the options
finish options. It is of particular relevance to office available for hybrid concrete structures, and goes on
accommodation that is often included within or to explain the key considerations in the design of this
adjacent to single storey sheds. type of structure.

• Ref: CCIP-020 • Ref: CCIP-030

• Price: £45 • Price: £45

Concrete Framed Buildings

The Concrete Centre
Riverside House, 4 Meadows Business Park,
Station Approach, Blackwater, Camberley,
Surrey GU17 9AB At the start of each project, a decision is made about
the form and material for the structural frame. This
www: concretecentre.com publication sets out guidance to enable an informed
decision for the optimum structural solution. The
Ref: TCC/03/47 publication also provides information on sustainability,
© MPA – The Concrete Centre, 2009 innovations in concrete and best practice.

• Ref: TCC/03/024
• Free PDF download available

The Concrete Centre is part of the Mineral Products

Association, the trade association for the aggregates,
asphalt, cement, concrete, lime, mortar and silica
sand industries. www.mineralproducts.org

All advice or information from MPA - The Concrete Centre is intended only for use in the UK by those who will evaluate the significance and limitations of its contents and take responsibility for its use and application. No liability (including
that for negligence) for any loss resulting from such advice or information is accepted by Mineral Products Association or its subcontractors, suppliers or advisors. Readers should note that the publications from MPA - The Concrete Centre are
subject to revision from time to time and should therefore ensure that they are in possession of the latest version.