Newbridge
| PROJECT BRIEF
SDS acted as civil, structural and architectural (CSA) design engineers for Lidl Ireland on this brand new €100m development in Newbridge, Co Kildare which opened in late 2019.
Lidl is an International Award winning supermarket chain. Establishing themselves in the Irish grocery market in 2000, this global leading brand has gone from strength to strength, now employing over 4,200 people across 160 stores and four regional
distribution centres in Ireland alone.
In 2016 Lidl started the development process of their Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. The RDC building comprises of approximately 58,000 sq m of gross area, built on a 58 acre site, which services Dublin and the greater Leinster area.
The warehouse is one of the biggest buildings ever in Ireland with 155 loading bays and includes 300 parking spaces to cater for staff vehicles, along with 80 HGV parking spaces.
| THE BUILDING
Block A – Pharmacy, Café, Medical Centre
(699 sq m)
This block is a 2-storey building which has a café with outdoor seating, a pharmacy and a lobby for the medical centre on the ground floor. The first floor is the medical centre unit, which could also be used as office space. It was constructed using traditional insulated cavity, masonry walls with a structural frame of in situ reinforced concrete and precast hollowcore floors and roof.
| OFF SITE CONSTRUCTION
The use of precast concrete building elements reduced time and cost on the projects. A considerable amount of the M & E elements were fully assembled in sections off site, then joined together at installation stage.
Having intumescent paint applied to steel members prior to arriving on site helped eliminate another unnecessary on-site trade.
| VALUE ENGINEERING
Value Engineering plays an important part in delivering a building at a cost-effective price, while still incorporating the client’s brief and construction, to regulatory requirements. Value engineering workshops allowed us to explore ideas and options for improvements on building materials.
| ENVIRONMENT
The environment plays an important role at planning stage to ensure minimal negative impact on the environment during and after completion of a project. Because of this role the regional distribution centre boasts several important biodiversity features:
• 9,390 sq m wildflower meadow to promote pollination and biodiversity
• 9,960 sq m woodland area with 5,700 native trees to Ireland
• 600 shrubs native to Ireland
• Beehives, bat boxes and insect hotels were all constructed as part of this project
| SUSTAINABILITY
• 4300 energy-saving solar panels were installed on the roof, with an estimated €1m worth, constituting the biggest single solar array in Ireland. These solar panels will produce over one million kilowatt hours of energy, enough power for 240 homes — and will reduce the carbon output of the buildings by some 473 tonnes annually.
• The warehouse utilises an energy efficient system for lighting and heating, including LED lighting, PIR sensor controls, and a building management system.
• Air tightness values for the administration building and warehouse are much lower than required under the current building regulations.
• Other sustainability measures include Heat recovery from refrigeration and only natural refrigerants.
• A commitment to ‘zero waste to landfill.
• A 46,000 litre underground Rainwater harvesting Tank.
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