Australia’s biggest clear span shed

What is a clear span you may ask? And how is that different from a wide span shed? Both terms refer to the width of a shed without an internal post. For the horticulture industry, a more fitting name would be MEGA SPAN!

For the fruit packing sector, these mega span sheds of unprecedented sizes are improving productivity. More space for fruit packing using automation and bigger plant and equipment.

Packing Shed

The biggest clear span in Australia is being fitted out in the Yarra Valley at Coldstream for Red Rich Fruits. At 80 metres wide and 128 metres long, this facility has an enormous workspace down the centre of the shed whilst still having space for 3 cool rooms in each corner and office space down the length of one side. The shed was designed and built by Entegra Signature Structures, a business known for their innovation in the Horticulture sector. This is a mega span shed!

 


 

Entegra Project Manager – Brian White, “Unencumbered workspace is the latest trend in the industry and this shed is the biggest space without central posts that we know of. An interesting feature on this Red Rich Fruits shed is that the cool room sits on the rake of the roof truss. At the northern end there is a drive through for the trucks, 6m sliding doors with a total opening of 16m. The roof is insulated between the roof cladding and the top of the trusses with 55mm blanket and mesh.”

Video – take a look inside

The push to innovate is also changing the make-up of shed builders. Entegra has overhauled their operations with unprecedented resources afforded to the design and engineering teams operating all in-house to spearhead their manufacturing efforts. The changes didn’t go unnoticed with the shed builder winning the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Award, Growth Sector Awards (Construction).

Growers looking to modernize with the latest trends should heed word from the General Manager, Laurie McCalman, “there is a continued push for economies of scale and efficiencies in capital and operating costs. We’ve developed the ‘passive box’ design that will drive down energy costs with capacity to maximize solar loading to produce between 650kW and 1000kW on a roof space of 10,000 sqm. Furthermore, they’re designed to harvest 100% of the rainfall that can be collected and harvested for various uses.”

The rapid growth story doesn’t come without challenges. The increasing size of packing facilities with mega span sheds is making it more difficult to find suitable locations that abide by local and state government planning requirements. Entegra has taken on this responsibility to navigate a way through the various requirements and obtain permits (planning and building permits) on behalf of their clients as the increased complexity can be overwhelming for growers who cannot exceed maximum floor area dimensions for sheds in local planning schemes.

Entegra’s mega span capability has already been used across the Northern Territory, Far-North QLD, NSW, Victoria and South Australia. For clients interested in touring one of the facilities, we can arrange for that to happen at the right stage of the purchase decision.

Bigger clear span sheds is just part of the innovation story. Check our horticulture page , click on our bot chat or call 1300 296 206.

 

Share This Post:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • 2
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
    2
    Shares