Gerald McDonald & Co Ltd - was founded in 1917, and is a leading supplier of a wide range of ingredients for the food, drink and fragrance industries.

the brief - the client was in the process of re-locating their operations. Internal and external plans had been produced for a new purpose built manufacturing and distribution centre. As this was a complex design, management were concerned to ensure that the layout and operations were the best possible within the constraints of the site. We were asked to review and redesign the entire facility.

the approach - there were four areas, manufacturing, ambient store, chilled store and cold store. We proposed that the entrance to the cold store should be within the chilled store to reduce the risk of icing and the energy cost in maintaining the temperature. We also suggested a fundamental difference in the cold store construction which did away with the need for heater mats and insulated floors, reducing both construction and operating costs. The layout for the storage areas had been based on a specialised type of truck and we had doubts about the use of such a truck for this operation. We provided alternative designs using more conventional trucks which required a reduced building size.

the result - Gerald McDonald relocated their business to a new 35,000 sq ft purpose-built facility in Basildon, Essex. The multi temperature building includes ambient, chilled and frozen sections which has enabled the client to expand its business.

Next Case Study

Building 243, University Campus, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1234 750323 Fax: +44 (0) 1234 241431