The modern warehouse is much more than four walls and a roof. It is essential infrastructure for supplying food, medicines and any number of other products. It is also where goods are manufactured on production lines. A lot takes place inside warehouses and there’s plenty that goes into building one, too.
In this article, P3’s Head of Construction for Central Eastern Europe (CEE) & Czech Republic, Tomáš Kubín, lifts the lid on how a modern, high-quality warehouse gets built.
Logistics properties can reach dimensions of over 200,000 square meters. From the outside, they appear uniform, but in fact their uses are extremely diverse and range from automated distribution for online retailing, trans-shipment points for foodstuffs, to production lines for vehicle manufacturing and much more.
Constructing a logistics property economically is a complicated operation, filled with challenges. This process involves detailed research of potential sites, getting value for money on building materials, complying with a regulatory rulebook which varies country by country, and many other factors. Mistakes in any one area can be costly.
P3’s mantra is “no project too big, no detail too small.” As a developer that has been building warehouses in Europe for more than 20 years, P3 understands a high-quality, modern facility takes into account every possible need of its future user.
Construction quality and customer service are what separates an outstanding provider from the rest of the field. That’s why it pays to choose a specialist developer with a proven track record.
Tomáš, What’s the first step in constructing a warehouse?
“The approach we take is to be very open with customers and try hard to provide flexibility. When we are building for a customer, a lot of it is based on their needs. It’s not about P3, it’s about how we can help them. So we really go through the design with them.
“Each project is its own story, but they all begin with the customer. Every occupier has their own business to run, often on tight margins. We are here to help them succeed by clarifying what their needs are and supporting them with an outstanding product.
“In addition, higher-quality properties are suitable for more uses and more diverse users, a factor that should not be underestimated with regard to the entire life cycle of a building. Developers like us are therefore increasingly building standardized logistics halls that are able to meet the needs of every possible tenant. This is also our strategy because at P3, we often build our warehouses on a speculative basis and find a suitable tenant only during the construction phase or after completion.
Don’t all warehouse providers focus on the customer’s needs?
“The P3 approach is different compared to developers who build warehouses in order to sell them fast, or who primarily build for investors. Our customers are the occupiers who actually use the warehouse. Our focus is firmly on them.
“We are a long term owner and this is good news for customers, as it means we’re committed to the building for years into the future. So it’s in our interests to keep standards high in all our warehouses. As a result, the quality of the asset is much higher. We don’t just build and sell as quickly as possible.”
A warehouse looks like a simple building. Why can’t a business just build its own?
“If you want to avoid a high risk of losing money and don’t want to deal with the challenges of managing a complex construction project with several ‘moving parts,’ then it’s sensible to get a professional developer.
“Even the selection of the right location takes time and effort, including a series of preliminary investigations, market surveys and due diligence checks. Among other things, the developers evaluate topography, earthquake, and flooding risks as well as transport connections. This is followed by soil and pollutant investigations. Ecological species protection reports are also obtained. In the further course of the assessment, the developers carry out traffic and noise analyses, check the development plan and hold talks with the relevant governmental municipality concerned. Based on the results of these investigations, the developer submits an application to the municipality to receive the appropriate building permits. Basically, there’s a galaxy of standards and regulations you need to know about.
“Then there are many factors that go into constructing the warehouse itself.
“There’s the clear height which is one of the most important topics. This is the standard for how many racks you can stack. The height may be 10 metres, or it could be 12 metres. This range provides the most flexibility. If the clear height is more than 12.2 metres, then a regulation to do with sprinkler systems comes into play, which has an economic impact.
“Then there’s the floor slab. Do you know how much weight the floor will need to bear? There are standards for this. The market standard is 5 tonnes per square metres, with 7 tonnes per point load.
“There’s also the ratio of the loading docks. There’s generally 850 square metres per one loading dock. And don’t forget the driveway to the warehouse, which is roughly 1,000 square metres for every drive-in.
“All the above are kind of standards however we are flexible and ready to make those in line with our customer’s needs.”
How sustainable is a P3 warehouse? Environmental issues matter more than ever
“BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method. For our existing stock of warehouses, P3 is targeting BREEAM ‘very good’ ratings. For all our new developments, we are targeting ‘excellent’ ratings. We’re doing this because sustainable construction is vital and we believe a modern warehouse should minimize its impact upon the environment.
“We have the capacity to build with recyclable materials to minimise the carbon footprint of construction and to preserve local wildlife. We can also install very efficient water systems and LED lighting to reduce water and energy consumption. Of course, there’s an economic side to sustainability, too. Lower-cost construction methods may look attractive compared to high-quality developments, but ultimately more expensive developments offer users a more reliable logistics environment, long term.
“In terms of this execution quality, logistic facilities tend to be mid-range or high-end buildings. Mid-range is characterized by low-cost, functional construction methods, though they can still meet high sustainability standards. High-end construction methods with upmarket features are less common, but demand is growing all the time for sustainable buildings.”
It sounds complicated. How does P3 make construction simple for the customer?
“Our products are versatile and we build different schemes for a variety of customers. One very important feature is that we use a single general constructor. We don’t carve up different parts of the construction process to lots of subcontractors.
“This is good for the customer. It reduces the risk of delay and if there are issues later, they’re easier to fix because there’s a single point of contact.
“Ultimately, a lot depends on trust. Customers need to be confident a project will be delivered on time and on budget. And the clear record of P3 is that we achieve this. Some developers over-promise to customers and then struggle to deliver – which they always knew would happen. Our culture is to be open and have trust with customers. When we make promises, we deliver.”