Residential Roof Top Addition at Double Bay, Sydney
September 17, 2018Mount Panorama Resort
August 29, 2023Suttons Motor Group Mezzanine Floor
Most people in the Building and Construction Industries would only think of a metal decking product being used as permanent formwork for a concrete slab.
However, a large spare parts facility in Sydney wanting to increase floor space in their new warehouse required a large mezzanine floor, that needed to both support the weight of heavy car and truck parts, yet be able to be modified or moved if they needed to relocate to larger premises in the future.
Storage & Materials Handling Group of Companies, a Sydney based company specialising in the installation of Pallet Racking and Storage Equipment were given the task of designing and building the 1,600 m2 mezzanine floor inside the new Suttons Distribution Centre at Lidcombe, to be used as their main Spare Parts division, servicing dealerships all over Australia.
A structural steel frame of posts and support beams was designed utilising special Truedek® TD170 panels with zero pre-camber as floor beams in conjunction with standard infill panels. This was then covered with 32mm structural plywood flooring. The end result provided a truly flat soffit and allowed the fire system range pipes and sprinkler heads to be concealed within the floor system.
Magnus Stromquist, SMH National Operations Manager, was the Project Manager on the project, "Each bay was 5m x 5m, so having the Truedek® beams manufactured to the exact dimensions made it very easy to install the floor and using standard scissor lifts we did it in record time. The design was also very safe as the Truedek® became a really sturdy platform for us to work on when we laid the timber flooring".
"The job required a floor live load of 5.0 kPa, so the Truedek® TD170mm panels had a big load to carry and once the floor was completed it was incredibly strong. No other decking system would have worked without having to use a lot more steel beams and support columns, which would have limited the amount of racking storage available under the floor and greatly reduced access for the stock pickers".
"I know that if we ever need to relocate the floor, it will be a breeze and it was also a nice change to have a job where we didn’t have to use concrete".