Adnams opened its sustainable distribution centre on the road into Southwold 20 years ago, transforming a disused gravel pit into an award-winning hub for sharing our products with the world. As we celebrate its birthday, we reflect on the parts of the project that made it stand out and the innovative work that made sure that it didn’t.
Having been given planning permission for a conventional warehouse, the project team was encouraged to think a bit more progressively, maybe a little more ‘Adnamsy’. An approach that gave us the award-winning building we have today. Sustainability has always been at the heart of what we do, and our distribution centre gave us the chance to put our principles into practice.
Designed by architects Aukett Fitzroy Robinson (now Aukett Swanke) and consultants Hoare Lea, the 90m long, 45 m wide building was sunk into the ground and given a glorious grass roof (or sedum if you want to be botanically correct). It helped it merge into the landscape softened its visual impact and provided us with great insulation and even better photographs.
One of the main aims of the building’s design was to provide enough thermal mass to counteract daytime temperature peaks and provide a consistent level inside – or for those of us who aren’t engineers, it helped keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
This type of passive energy management contributed to the building’s overall impact, as well as its design. We are based in one of the driest counties in the UK and so rainwater is collected via this living system and stored in a 35,000-litre underground tank for toilet flushing, irrigation and to supply our vehicle washer, which then reclaims 60% of the water it uses.
Innovative materials such as Glulam roof beams, lime hemp walls, hemp insulation and lime render were all part of its airtight construction, which would reduce large-scale energy use during our daily operations. Just like the building itself, all the cool stuff is carefully hidden - like the fact that it was the first commercial building in the UK to use hemp construction, which locks CO2 up in the finished structure. It was just one of the methods devised to minimise its environmental impact and was employed on a scale never seen before. In total over 150 tonnes of CO2 are locked up in the walls of the warehouse, where a more traditional building of its scale would have generated around 600 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
To create the warehouse’s column-free storage space, the designers used Glulam beams manufactured from wood. At the time, they were the longest ever installed in the UK, measuring 41.6 m in length. They overhang the building providing shade, which also helps us maintain the temperature.
While its construction had a minimal impact on the environment, its impact on local biodiversity has been immense. By protecting it from overdevelopment for 20 years, we have created our own little haven in Reydon for rare plant species and invertebrates, which has in turn brought an amazing variety of birdlife to the site. It also provided a home for our bees, which have played an important part in our sustainability journey.
We couldn’t mark this occasion without acknowledging the role Karen Hester played in managing and commissioning the project, which also involved the logistics of relocating to Reydon without any business disruption. She continues to inspire us - as does the building she left us – it will always be a testament to Karen’s tenacity and her belief in our company values. On completion, it won a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) award for excellence, helping us stand out in all the right ways.