Established in 1997, Russell WBHO is the contractor behind some of the most high-profile and complex building projects across the North West. Included in that expertise is clad racking construction for warehouse and temperature controlled storage projects.

Clad racking is used for the storage of items, and an automated system can be implemented where pallets and items can be placed and removed by machinery. An automated system can help reduce overall business costs over time. Another benefit to clad racking construction is that it can be built higher over smaller square footage, saving land costs.

Racking is used as the foundation for the warehouse in a Cladrack construction project, and the cladding is fitted onto the outside of the racking. Overall this new approach is quicker to erect than traditional warehouse builds and is more precise.

However, due to the nature of clad racking construction, there is no margin for error. It needs to be managed by a specialist. Russell WBHO has experience in clad racking construction, bringing together high-level expertise, innovation and collaboration. We ensure each and every Cladrack project is designed with buildability at its core, on budget and on time, every time.

Phase 3 of the Lineage Peterborough project was a clad racking build. It was the first use of a Cladrack structure to create a fully-automated 35m high cold store and used a total of 1,998,805 pieces of steel. The challenge was to create a 135,000 sq ft fully-automated cold store to hold 45,500 pallet spaces using the Cladrack construction system.

The key is in pre-construction planning, where the bespoke structure is precision-designed right down to the smallest nuts and bolts. This planning ensures onsite Cladrack construction assembly is as efficient and precise as possible.

This state of the art clad racking system was provided by SSI Schaefer and built to a specification designed by the Russell WBHO team with their architects AEW, structural engineers Healey Consulting and specialist external envelope contractor ISD.

The team had to devise an engineered ground solution which stabilised the ground to 30% above CR requirements, and cast a power floated floor slab to support the high leg loads from the Clad rack structure.

Cladrack construction does not allow for standard construction techniques, so we deployed highly trained operatives ‘climbing’ within the structure to install each section, working hand-in-hand with specialist abseilers who descended the structure to perform quality checks. This is the kind of specialist skill and attention to detail required for a successful clad racking build.

You can read more about our clad racking construction project here.