Bays with bottle
December 1st 2008

Hörmann says its loading bays are the toast of Europe's largest bonded warehouse

Constellation is part of Constellation Brands, the largest wine company in the world. The distribution and bottling plant in Avonmouth will span 870,000 sq ft and have the capacity to fill around 120 million bottles of wine per year.

Developed by Goodman, Fitzpatrick is the main contractor managing facility construction – and is a reguar Hörmann specifier. "With a facility of this magnitude the loading bay and industrial door installation is a huge scale job," says Fitzpatrick project manager Lee Forster.

"Sub-standard service can lead to costly delays and future operational problems." The 30 loading bays feature Hörmann's 42mm thick SPU40 sectional doors, which deliver high levels of thermal insulation via a thick insulating core of 100 per cent CFCfree polyurethane rigid foam.

"Thermal insulation is hugely important in keeping carbon emissions to a minimal," comments Alan Jenkins, Hörmann UK's commercial director for industrial doors.

"There is massive pressure on the major firms developing these big warehouses and distribution centres to increase energy efficiency by specifying manufacturers and products that contribute towards this." Externally, each door section features hot-galvanised material and adhering polyester primer coating, providing protection against adverse weather conditions. The additional stucco embossing of the surface ensures that the doors are considerably less susceptible to damage and wear than those with a smooth surface.

Easy loading The loading bay doors are surrounded by Hörmann's standard version DSL link arm dock shelter, a highly robust solution thanks to substrate of polyester threads and PVC coating on either side.

Vehicle loading and unloading is made easier with use of the HLS-2 dock levellers, which feature a hinged lip. The platform and lip are manufactured from non-slip steel and the platform is supported by reinforcement profiles. This, says Hörmann, is vital to maintaining the highest levels of health and safety in the dock environment.

The loading bay specification was completed with high protection dock buffers, low energy signal lights and vehicle alignment guides.

A total of 130 doors were installed on the site, including 18 level access SPU40 sectional doors, the largest of which is 6000mm x 6000mm allowing easy access for larger vehicles and forklifts.

Fourteen Hörmann V5015 high speed doors were fitted on the inside of robust fire shutters, which are connected to the fire alarm so that the doors automatically close once the fire alarm is activated.

"The V5015 high speed door furthers energy efficiency thanks to rapid opening and closing speeds," adds Jenkins.

"There are some highly advanced, thermally efficient high speed doors available today. Some are able to open and close at up to 3m/s – ensuring that external and internal doorways are not kept open any longer than necessary." Hörmann hinged doors were also used on the project. Twenty personnel doors, all of which are one hour fire rated, were installed along with 27 fire exit doors.

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