31.5 Metre high rack clad building is a SA first

The first clad rack building locally designed, engineered and manufactured is shooting up in Linbro Park, Johannesburg and attracting considerable attention.

The Universal Storage Systems project was commissioned by UTi Pharma in conjunction with LGA Logisitic’s Consultants and will be for the storage of pharmaceuticals. When completed the building, just off London Rd, will be 138m long, 45m wide and 31,5m high and it will hold more than 38 000 pallets.

Elaborating on the proudly South African project, Universal’s sales director Jan Breytenbach is quick to emphasise that the warehouse must meet the exceptionally stringent standards set for storing medicines.

"Our relationship with Uti Pharma dates back to the 90s, when they traded as IHD, and we supplied the racking for the warehouse in Linbro Park. Later we were involved with a new warehouse in Longmeadow in 2006 and also their branches in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. It’s been a great relationship and over 21 years we have come to fully understand that our client has to service the storage needs of many leading pharmaceutical companies, while ensuring that patients always get the original quality medicine they need, when and where they need it."

Elaborating on the newest structure, he explains, “All uprights and beams are made of pre-galvanised steel and are all newly developed products designed for the clad rack system. And, just as impressive are the project’s 'green credentials'.

Breytenbach says, working six days a week, it is a seven- month project.

Globally rack clad buildings have come into their own because they offer optimal cubic area storage space, are relatively fast to erect and they are cost effective. The system uses racking as the main structure, with cladding sheets added for walls and roof.

The structures are easy to extend and it is this adaptability and flexibility that makes rack cladding so exciting, he adds.

Although the Uti Pharma building is clocking up several SA firsts, the concept of rack cladding is already widely accepted and demand grows apace. Universal, founded in 1994, operates locally and internationally.

As the Sales Director explains, "We offer a fully integrated approach to users in any field requiring the efficient storage and retrieval of materials of any nature, size, weight or format. This encompasses: concept design; feasibility studies; product development and engineering; validation testing; quality assured automated production; project management installation; and, after sales service."

He adds, "More than ever before, the demand to optimise space is pushing the boundaries of storage planning and technology.”