Brief:The Forensic Science Service had a warehouse storage facility where only the ground floor area was being utilised. Compact Storage and a number of other suppliers were asked to propose solutions to what was, in effect, a vast waste of space.
Conventional wisdom suggested a mezzanine structure with static shelving above and below or, alternatively, mobile shelving above and below the mezzanine structure.
Compact Storage chose the second option, but omitting the mezzanine structure entirely, thereby reducing the costs of the support structure and building regulation approval.
Building mobile shelving five metres high would have created unacceptable retrieval issues, so we created a support system for a floating floor within the structure of the required frame height.
The floating floor construction is part open metal grid and part flooring grade chipboard. The open grid enables good visibility from either level to ensure an aisle is clear prior to movement; and the solid flooring addresses modesty issues within the main body of the shelving system.
Due to the height and weight of the system, all the mobile shelving units are powered electronically, with all the safety features developed over a number of years for similar applications.
The end result for the customer is a high density storage solution utilising the full height of the building to obtain maximum capacity without the need for building regulation approval for a mezzanine structure or for fixed column positions on the ground floor hampering space utilisation.
The installed two-tier system is one of only two within the UK. Compact Storage completed the installation on time and within budget, meeting the clients needs both operationally and in terms of density of storage.
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