Next Distribution Centre, Doncaster

Purlins and side rails allow high street retailer to take the next step in distribution.

Specialist structural steel manufacturer, voestalpine Metsec, has supported construction of the Next distribution centre in Doncaster through supplying its specialised, rolled to order, steel purlins and side rails.

The distribution centre, which is located at the West Moor Park site, just off the M18 in Doncaster, has joined Next’s existing centre at the same location, and boasts a huge 915,848 square feet of floor space including warehouse, office space and mezzanine levels. The centre stands alongside the existing distribution centre, with the two structures being linked via a bridge. The project had an estimated cost of £55 million.

Contracted by the design team at Billington Structural Steelwork, Metsec’s team of experienced design and sales staff added value through providing design and engineering expertise, technical support and advanced resources such as software. This led to Metsec designing an economic Purlin solution which optimised the use of steel, without compromising on performance, resulting in lower costs.

Leigh Hardy, Project Buyer at Billington Structural Steelwork, commented:
“The Next distribution centre was a fantastic project to work on. It’s a huge structure and carries real prestige, due to the end client being a brand as renowned as Next. As part of the project, it was important that we added value in all aspects of the build, so Metsec’s work supplying designed Purlins and side rails to the project was hugely important.”

David Brown, Sales Director for Metsec’s Purlin Division, commented:
“Here at Metsec, we ensure that our systems are designed to provide optimum levels of structural performance in roof constructions, however it is often the added value we provide to the engineer via our expert staff that they’re most appreciative of. Having been specified on this prestigious project really was a compliment to the technical competence of our whole team of design and sales staff. Providing excellent technical advice is a forte of our team and we pride ourselves on supplementing the engineer’s design needs with load tables, literature and software to support the specification process.”

He continued:
“Working on the structure for a consumer brand the size of Next is obviously exciting for us. This was multiplied by the sheer scale of the centre, which upon completion will be just under a million square feet in size.”

Take a look at Metsec’s Purlins and Side Rails Systems