Foundation for a world-class frozen-food warehouse

For Coldo’s new fully automated frozen-food warehouse in Kuurne, Skald Engineering did what it does best: translating complex industrial construction challenges into forward-looking solutions.

Bart Maerten, Business Unit Manager at skald engineering: “As an independent design specialist, we were responsible for the design of the freezer’s foundations and the entire structure of the front building.”

“The challenges were significant. After all, in a deep-freeze environment, extreme temperature fluctuations cause significant stress on the structure. That is why the floor construction is layered, with underfloor heating in the subfloor to prevent the ground from freezing. The floating upper floor slab rests on foundation piles and hardwood blocks with controlled spring action, ensuring that settlement is absorbed evenly. To minimize deformation, the thickness of the floor slab varies from 40 to 165 centimeters. This quasi-rigid foundation slab is crucial for the operation of the automated systems in the warehouse, which stand over 40 meters tall.”

“We also applied smart engineering to the front building. This building combines logistics functions with a parking deck, accessible via a car lift, and was designed with column-free spans of up to 16 meters. By already taking into account heavier electric vehicles and future uses, our engineering firm is putting our vision of sustainable and flexible construction into practice.”