What we build · Cold Storage
A Building Inside a Building
The most technically demanding industrial building, and the one where an ordinary warehouse approach fails outright.
The geotechnical report, the intended clear height and the likely tenant profile. Those three tell us more than a full set of drawings.
The slab
The one element a tenant judges on, and cannot fix
Self-perform
Dewatering and deep foundations in house
Commodity
Fire protection designed to what is actually stored
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Vapour drive is relentless in Florida
Warm humid air outside and a freezer inside creates a permanent pressure pushing moisture through the envelope. Any gap in the vapour barrier admits moisture that condenses and freezes inside the assembly, and over years that destroys insulation and can lift the structure. In South Florida that drive is as strong as anywhere in the country.
What makes it different
- A continuous vapour barrier with no penetrations left unsealed.
- Under-slab heating in freezers, to stop the ground below freezing and heaving.
- Refrigeration plant, its redundancy, and its own room requirements.
- Doors, docks and air curtains — the biggest energy loss points.
- Commissioning and a controlled pull-down, which takes real time.
How we handle it
- 01Detail the vapour barrier as a continuous system and inspect it.
- 02Install under-slab heating where the design requires it.
- 03Coordinate refrigeration plant, redundancy and controls.
- 04Detail dock and door interfaces, which is where energy is lost.
- 05Commission properly and pull down temperature under control.
Under-slab heating in a freezer is not optional and is occasionally value-engineered out by people who do not understand it. Without it the ground beneath freezes, expands, and lifts the slab — and the repair is essentially rebuilding the floor.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We will not compress the commissioning and pull-down period to recover schedule. Bringing a freezer down too quickly stresses the structure and the envelope, and the damage is not visible until later.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why is cold storage so much more expensive?
- The envelope, the refrigeration plant and the slab all have requirements an ordinary warehouse does not.
- What is under-slab heating for?
- Stopping the ground under a freezer from freezing and heaving. Removing it destroys the floor over time.
- Why does the vapour barrier matter so much?
- Florida's warm humid air drives moisture inward permanently. Any gap ices up inside the assembly.
- Can pull-down be rushed?
- No. It stresses the structure and the damage shows up later.
What decides cost
The Slab
The floor is the element tenants judge a warehouse by, and it is produced in a single continuous operation that cannot be repeated.
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Fire Protection
The sprinkler system is determined by what is stored and how high it is stacked, which is information a speculative developer does not have.
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Clear Height
Clear height has risen steadily and it is not free. Each additional foot costs across several systems and only earns it back if the market racks that high.
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Docks & Truck Court
Door count, court depth and pavement design are set by the vehicles that will use them, and getting the depth wrong is not fixable.
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Ground Conditions
Industrial buildings cover an enormous footprint, which means whatever is wrong with the ground is wrong across all of it.
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More what we build
Distribution Warehouse
The standard big-box warehouse. Four variables decide almost the entire budget, and they interact with each other.
Read more →
Light Manufacturing
A building shaped by what happens inside it. Power, compressed air, process drainage and ventilation are the project; the shell is comparatively simple.
Read more →
Flex & Office-Warehouse
Warehouse with an office component, built speculatively for tenants who do not exist yet. The flexibility is the product.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.