ISD Solutions and Kingspan deliver the latest state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution centre for Aldi

20 May 2014: Aldi’s new super-efficient cold storage warehouse and distribution centre at Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, features a unique single envelope design by ISD Solutions and incorporates high performance insulated panels and a solar PV system from Kingspan.

Due to open in 2015, the multi-million-pound development, including warehouse, chilled food storage areas and office space, totalling 52,000 m2, will serve Aldi’s growing portfolio of stores across South and West Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire, employing some 400 new staff.

With overall project management lead by DSP Construction and following a strict tendering process, ISD Solutions was selected providing its expertise in single envelope warehouse design and build, especially thermally efficient cold store construction, while Kingspan products have been specified due to their high performance, durability and energy efficiency.

Expected to operate 24/7, 365 days a year, the specification for the project provides a high performance, environmentally friendly solution, with extremely low running costs. The single envelope design was chosen as it produces a structure that is faster and more cost effective to build, with significantly improved thermal properties.

The single envelope construction requires between 33-50% less supporting steelwork than conventional structures, while the airtightness of the envelope ensures that the interior environment, both in the ambient and chilled areas of the warehouse, requires less energy to maintain and control.

20,000 m2 of Kingspan’s controlled environment insulated wall panels are installed on the project, providing excellent levels of technical performance to ensure controlled temperature levels within the cold store. The panels feature an innovative secret-fix system that not only delivers superior airtightness but also results in a fixing-free, clean surface to the panel façade. Kingspan Topdeck insulated panels have been chosen for the ambient roof as their pre-adhered membrane saves on installation time.

To ensure fire safety, ISD installed steel-faced composite panels, with non-combustible mineral fibre cores, to form a wall between the ambient warehouse and chill warehouse as they ensure excellent fire resistance from 60 to 240 minutes if needed.

Both the ambient and the chilled areas of the warehouse feature Kingspan Roof Mounted PV System, designed, supplied and installed by Kingspan Energy. The 1.5 MWp solar PV system covers a total area of 15,000 m2 and consists of 6,000 modules, 250 Wp each. It will provide Aldi with 1.2 GW of electricity per annum, further improving the energy performance of the building and reducing its lifetime running costs.

Aldi’s new cold store warehouse and distribution centre at Goldthorpe with Kingspan solar panelsKingspan Energy’s Commercial Manager, Aisling McArdle comments: “The new Aldi distribution centre at Goldthorpe is one of the biggest rooftop solar PV installations we have undertaken to date, and we are pleased to have completed it in a relatively short time frame of fewer than three months. Our PV system will significantly reduce Aldi’s electricity costs on this site, ultimately contributing to their continued growth and penetration into the UK market”.

ISD Solutions managing director Tony Wall says: “We have been working with Aldi across a number of in-store frozen and chilled food storage solutions and this is our first stand-alone warehouse project for the store group. The range of composite panel technology incorporated in this project, together with the solar PV system, makes this a truly state-of-art warehouse structure. We have also been able to incorporate the warehouse energy centre, normally requiring a separate structure, into the main building, resulting in a simpler, more cost-effective solution.”