Dealing with complex building requirements

Merriman Anderson_Architects - Rendering - Encore Wire Corporation Credit: Merriman Anderson/Architects Rendering

As the size of industrial buildings is becoming larger and 1.5 to 2 million square feet is becoming more normal, certain elements and building codes are changing.

Merriman Anderson/Architects (MAA) recently provided full architectural design services for the development and construction of Encore Wire Corporation’s new 720,000-square-foot service center in McKinney.

The firm also faced a different, but also complex challenge in creating an automated storage and retrieval system at The Peterbilt Test Building in Denton.

Encore Wire Corporation is a leading manufacturer of copper and aluminum residential, commercial and industrial building wire.

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Due to the size of the new service center, the building is believed to be the first industrial warehouse building in North Texas to implement firefighter air replenishment systems.

Originally intended for high-rise buildings, firefighter air replenishment systems are required throughout the interior of a building so firefighters do not have the exit the building to resupply their breathing units.

Due to the complexity of the building code, the implementation of such a system required early collaboration between the authority having jurisdiction and the owner, architect, plumbing engineer, general contractor and the fire protection engineer/contractor involved on the project and presented many challenges that MAA had to overcome and provide unique solutions.

The challenge Peterbilt Motors Co. in Denton was to expand the main manufacturing and production plant without interrupting operations.

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In the third and final phase of the multiple phase expansion project, MAA integrated a computer-controlled automated storage and retrieval system on the second level of the Test Building without impacting the ongoing activity of the existing plant.

The space was an existing penthouse building sitting at the roof level of the main plant, with a partial existing parts system that was to be removed and the entire area dedicated to the automated system.

The firm was able to upgrade the existing building to support the new advanced manufacturing system without shutting down the existing plant or production process, including adding new vertical circulation with two elevators and egress paths from the penthouse that didn’t conflict with the ASRS layout.

The automated storage and retrieval system has capacity for 400 painted hoods, sleepers and cabs. It was designed to allow for increased productivity, efficiency of production and modernization of their equipment.

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This complex project presented many challenges but the firm was able to find unique solutions to this feat, adding to the wealth and variety of experience of MAA.