Innovative Solutions to Tricky Industrial Building Challenges
When looking to expand, industrial facilities often face a common problem: how to reconfigure or add onto their space when it’s already packed with equipment and offices. Moreover, building out new space without limiting or shutting down production can feel nearly impossible.
With 35+ years of providing industrial contracting services under our belts, we’ve tackled tricky building challenges like these on many occasions. In this blog, we’re sharing how innovative thinking enables us to overcome these issues and deliver successful builds for our customers with little disruption to operations.
Common Space Challenges in Industrial Facilities
As a company grows and adds more machinery, staff, or storage space, they often reach a point where they’ve maxed out the existing floor area. If they want to continue growing, they may need to relocate or find a way to add more space to their current facility.
But adding floor space isn’t always possible, especially if you need to avoid downtime. Naturally, most businesses can’t afford to pause production for extended periods.
When it’s not feasible to expand the floor space, there is still a solution: build UP.
Mezzanines and Roof Raises
At Lee Industrial Contracting, two of the most effective solutions we apply when faced with square footage challenges are mezzanines and roof raises.
Mezzanines:
Mezzanines are an excellent way to create additional facility space without expanding the building’s footprint. By constructing a second level over the existing production floor, businesses can add office space, storage, or employee lounges without disturbing day-to-day operations.
Roof Raises:
In some cases, a facility’s ceiling height is too low to accommodate new or larger machinery. Lee Contracting’s roof-raising technique allows companies to add vertical space without expanding outward. This involves cutting the roof loose and raising it to the desired height, creating ample headroom for larger equipment or adding multi-level production areas.
Experience is crucial here. When taking on a mezzanine build or roof raise in an existing plant, be sure to work with an industrial contracting company that has performed these services multiple times, as they are considerable undertakings with distinctive challenges.
Case Studies: Lee Contracting’s Innovative Solutions in Action
Our innovative industrial contracting solutions have been put to the test on many occasions. Here are a few examples of tricky projects where our experts successfully tackled space issues:
Sparc Sports: This customer needed additional headroom for their indoor sports facility, but their existing roof was too low. Our team raised the roof by 15 feet to 30 feet overall, providing plenty of new space for the facility without requiring a full building expansion.
Tower Automotive: In this case, the customer needed a new breakroom and employee lounge, but had no extra floor space. Our experts at Lee Contracting designed and built a mezzanine over the existing locker room, creating the additional space without interrupting production.
WICO: An older industrial building with limited vertical space needed to accommodate new stamping presses. We raised the roof by 12 feet, giving the facility enough clearance to install the presses while keeping the original building footprint intact.
Check out more of our customer case studies >
Keys to Successful Solutions
The key to solving tricky challenges like these is understanding the customer’s specific needs and applying forward-thinking design. Our team works closely with you to fully understand your business goals and the constraints of your facility.
We then develop a solution that will achieve your goals, communicating with you every step of the way. Our fully in-house team handles every stage – from design and planning to execution and project management.
By applying our experience, creative thinking, and understanding your unique needs, Lee Industrial Contracting can help you overcome your space limitation challenges cost-effectively and with minimal to no downtime.
Is your facility facing space constraints? Contact Lee Industrial Contracting to learn more about how we can create custom solutions for your facility.
