New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 30/12 | Page 46

Project JPL Distribution Centre Location: Auckland Architect: Tse Architects ECONOMIES OF SCALE Consolidating several storage facilities into one vast new distribution centre has given the JPL Group an opportunity to invest in state-of-the-art warehouse design, construction and technology Streamlined distribution is essential for any business, but a new warehouse facility in East Tamaki has raised the benchmark. The JPL Distribution Centre in Laidlaw Way, designed by Tse Architects in conjunction with JPL’s owners, consolidates warehousing and distribution facilities for all the group’s operations, which include Farmers, Whitcoulls and Stevens. Formerly these facilities were spread across several different sites in the city. Farmers says the group required a state-of-theart national distribution centre that would minimise costs and maximise efficiencies. A spokesperson says one of our key objectives has always been to maintain the highest possible 42 search | save | share at trendsideas.com ‘in stock’ position with regard to core merchandise. “This project gave us an unprecedented opportunity to introduce the very latest warehousing systems and technology to consolidate and streamline our distribution facilities.” Below:The new JPL Distribution Centre in East Tamaki centralises all the group’s distribution operations for retail businesses that include Farmers, Whitcoulls and Stevens. The new building, which is an extension to an existing warehouse, provides a total floor area of 45,000m2. This is comprised of a 25,000m2 main floor area with a minimum roof height of 20m, a 14,500m2 concrete mezzanine floor 6m above the main floor with ramp access for trucks, a multistorey car park, offices and photographic studio for marketing purposes. Architect Peter McCombe of Tse Architects says the internal volume of the building is more than six Right:With a total floor area of 45,000m2 and a ceiling height between 20m and 26m, the centre is large enough to accommodate future growth in the business. Lower right:The building incorporates a mezzanine level with office space. This level is 6m above the main floor.