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Project
STONEBRIDGE CROSS - DROITWICH
Robert Wiseman Dairies
Following the completion
of the distribution building at Ashmore Lake Way, Robert Wiseman
Dairies acquired a 16 acre site at Stonebridge Cross, Droitwich
in 1999 for their Millennium Dairy Project. During the preceding
months the Practice had been co-ordinating detailed sketch
designs with specialist plant suppliers and consultants in
order to establish the correct site size requirement. Along
with technical personnel from Robert Wisemans and Tetra Pak
the Practice produced general arrangement drawings which gave
the optimum relationship between the various process rooms,
filling and despatch areas. At the same time architectural
input by the Practice was given in order to control the external
form as the dairy was to sit on former farmland surrounded
on two sides by natural woodland, in some instances this resulted
in modifications to plant layouts inside the building. The
size of the building totalled some 32,300 square metres on
two to three levels.
For the first time in the UK a dairy was to be constructed
from the start incorporating a plastic blow moulding bottle
plant attached to a Filling Hall and Sleeve Labelling mezzanines.
Other dairies in the UK had either added these on at a later
stage or bought in the bottles from external sources. This
was to be one of the most advanced milk production facilities
in Europe.
All internal areas were planned to respond to the production
sequence from Raw Milk intake through to despatch of processed
finished milk. Raw Milk is offloaded at an external tanker
reception and piped into a series of ten 250,000 litre silos
from where it is processed before being piped directly to
the finished milk tanks prior to being piped directly to the
filling machines in the Filling Hall. Bottles are then conveyed
from the blow moulding plant via sleeving and labelling machines.
The milk is then passed straight through to the chill stores,
operating at approximately 2¼C, before being loaded into refrigeration
vehicles and despatched direct to supermarket customers such
as Tesco, Safeway, Sainsburys and Asda. At full capacity this
facility will be able to produce up to 10 million litres per
week of milk in addition to an extensive cream filling facility
which can produce up to 15 million cream pots per annum.
Externally the building is clad in flat composite panels,
laid vertically to minimise weather staining and the need
for flashings which can prove difficult to protect against
vermin ingress. Large mirrored curtain walling dominates the
approach to the building, this elevation houses the main administrative
offices for the milk production with distribution and blow
moulding having their own offices adjacent to their operations.
External areas totalling 45,000 square metres comprise a 250
person car park, milk reception canopy, travelling vehicle
wash, fuel filling station and 90 electrical hook up positions
for refrigerated distribution vehicles.
The practice worked very closely with Robert Wisemans to ensure
the project conformed with the new IPPC environmental legislation
regarding effluent discharge and sampling procedures.
The project was commenced in October 1999 and completed in
May 2001 when production commenced and represented a 40 million
pound investment by Robert Wisemans.
Following the purchase of a dairy company in Bristol the Practice
were further commissioned to design another distribution centre
at Cabot Park, Avonmouth. This project commenced on site in
February 2002 and will distribute milk into Bristol, South
Wales and the South West, produced entirely at the Droitwich
facility. |
