Behind the scenes modular cold stores are key to Leicester’s new city food hall

Gloucester, 4 August 2014: ISD Direct, a leader in bespoke and off-the-peg walk-in cold and freezer rooms, has completed new chill and freezer room facilities supporting eight artisanal food stalls at Leicester’s brand new city centre food hall, the first phase of an overall £9.2 million redevelopment of Leicester city market, due for completion in 2015.

Working jointly with specialist contractor Phoenix Retail Services, the cold storage rooms have been designed by ISD Direct to provide highly efficient, easy to clean and easily accessed cold storage for stall holders selling a range of local and regional products, including fish and seafood, fresh meat, poultry and game, to specialist cheese and delicatessen products.

Nigel Rumsey, Technical Director for Phoenix Retail said: “The installation set some unusual challenges not least because of the curved footprint of the building, making accurate setting out critical. The ISD team was always helpful and flexible, solving issues along the way including an innovative sealed hatch in a freezer room floor to access a manhole cover below. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

The completed installation includes a total of ten chill rooms and two freezer rooms. These have been custom built by ISD Direct to overcome the challenging curves and design restrictions of the 5,500 square foot glass and timber food hall while providing maximum storage volumes for each trader. The use of 100mm thick high-density isothermal panels provides superior insulation properties and lower running costs, a key factor for small businesses. ISD Direct also supplied refrigeration evaporators, room protection and door curtains to keep the food storage areas as cool as possible during working hours.

ISD Solutions director Andy Hudspith commented: “With the resurgence of locally sourced quality foods we were delighted to be involved with the striking new food hall in the centre of Leicester. High quality, thermally efficient and safe food storage is increasingly important right across the food and hospitality sector. Our bespoke service includes design, manufacture and installation, drawing on our expertise with large-scale cold storage projects. At the same, our ISD Direct team also provides a full range of modular off-the-peg solutions to meet a wide range of food retail, hospitality and catering requirements.”