DC Sugar Fields, Etten-Leur | Maximum flexibility in floor construction

As a logistics real estate investor, Heylen Warehouses benefits from a distribution center that possesses a high degree of flexibility. The new Sugar Fields DC in Etten-Leur is being built according to that principle, calling on the expertise (and flexibility) of Van Berlo. Indeed, in the context of the second life idea, the requirements in terms of layout may change in time due to changing needs of a new tenant. The floor construction must be able to accommodate that.

In recent years, Van Berlo has realized a large number of floor constructions for Heylen Warehouses, both in the Netherlands and in Belgium. "For DC Sugar Fields we were faced with the challenge of designing a multifunctional floor," says Frederik Crampe, Sales Manager at Van Berlo. "MediaMarkt is the first tenant so now electronics products are stored there, but when the next tenant arrives, that could just be different. The distribution center must then be adaptable to the needs of the new tenant with minimal interventions. Think of varying aisle widths, possibly integrating induction loops for AVGs or building in intermediate floors, where point loads are transferred to the floor. That puts quite a few demands on the floor construction."

In week 40 of 2018, Van Berlo started installing the Mini Vibro piles.

Maximum flexibility
Van Berlo considers an industrial floor an integral project, with the various divisions working together as a true single construction team. "Van Berlo Engineering played a major role in this to get maximum flexibility from the floor design," Crampe continued. The floor construction of the five units into which the distribution center is divided is founded on 20,400 Mini Vibro piles. "The piles are in a grid of 1.80 by 1.80 meters with an average length of 12.30 meters. At the site of the shipping area, the grid was kept slightly larger; 2.20 meters square because of the lower loads carried on the floor. Most of the piles are 180 millimeters in diameter. In order to be able to realize future intermediate floors in the units and properly transfer the point loads, a total of 444 Mini Vibro-piles in a larger diameter of 273 millimeters were installed under the relevant columns."

Super flat floor
In week 40 of 2018, Van Berlo started installing the Mini Vibro piles. Twenty pile driving days were scheduled for each unit. Once installed and cured, Van Berlo acoustically inspected the piles for breakage and quality. Then contractor ASK Romein was able to get started on constructing the superstructure. "Once the building is wind and watertight, we will come back into the picture," says Crampe. "We will then first vacuum all the pile heads and isolate the debris package, in order to then pour the floor. A VB Exa Superflat floor has been chosen that meets the very highest flatness requirements in accordance with DIN15185 and is being executed without dilatations because of the flexibility of the distribution center with an eye to the future. The floor is poured in 34 stages and super-flat with our Superscreed machine. A total of 75,470 m² of floor space is involved, including over 55,000 m² of racking area. The super-flat floor is delivered with a flatness report by an independent agency."

The expected completion of DC Sugar Fields is in July this year. Crampe concludes by referring to Van Berlo's flexibility. "With literally one leg in the summer vacations, the plans were still changed by Heylen Warehouses. DC Sugar Fields was given priority over another project we were going to make together. For Van Berlo Engineering, that meant pulling out all the stops to complete it before the vacations. It marks the strength and flexibility of our organization, which Heylen Warehouses has also relied on for years." ζ