Earlier this year low loaders trundled through Suffolk from Harwich to Southwold carrying the biggest glue-laminated timber beams yet seen in the UK. The cumbersome cargoes needed police escorts and caused a stir in the local media. They probably also raised a few eyebrows among the real ale – now restyled 'real beer' – fraternity.

The destination of the Danish beams – the longest stretching over 40m – was the prospective site of the new 4,400m² distribution warehouse of Adnams brewery. The 130-year-old company is a touchstone of traditional beer-making authenticity, but lately it's been doing unnervingly contemporary things. First there was the hip and high profile “Beer from the coast” marketing campaign. Now it's launching its first “chilled and filtered” range and boosting capacity by 36% with the installation of a £2.8m German brewing system. The latter is ultra-efficient and will recycle steam from the process previously released into the atmosphere, so no longer will aficionados be able to perambulate Southwold taking the Adnams air.

The glulam en route through Suffolk

Then there's the decision to switch distribution from the town-centre warehouse to a new, multi-million pound, sedum-roofed, solar-powered facility in a disused gravel pit three miles away. And this involves another departure – the end of deliveries to Southwold pubs by horse-drawn dray.

But, while it may be appealing to a wider audience with its new brands and marketing, Adnams insists its big capital projects are true to its time-honoured traditions. The quality of the beer is still the beating heart of the business and, it stresses, it remains the “community-centred” company it's always been (with latest developments “enhancing the quality of life in our locality”). In short, it will be doing what it's always done. The difference is that it will be equipped to do it in an era ever more centred on the environment and energy economy.

According to corporate affairs manager Emma Hibbert, the new distribution centre is a statement of the company's intent. “We had to move as we'd outgrown the old site and had increasing congestion problems in Southwold,” she said. “Originally we'd planned a standard 'crinkly tin' unit, but decided it was the perfect opportunity to put our core values into practice and asked our architects, AukettFitzroyRobinson (AFR), to come up with something more challenging.” Providing optimum beer storage was central to the brief but, Adnams stipulated, the building also had to mix maximum efficiency with minimal environmental impact. And It wasn't just giving lip service to sustainability; it was willing to pay for it. “We spent £5.8m,” said Hibbert. “A standard building could have been 20% less.”

“The strength of Adnams' environmental ethos was clear from the outset,” said AFR project architect Nitesh Magdani. “Some companies are happy with a couple of wind turbines on the roof. They wanted everything to be in line with their sustainable and ethical values.” Enthused by the project, AFR's goal was the ultimate 'green' warehouse and a building that melds into the landscape. It's just a hundred yards from the road, 60m wide, 90m long and 13.5m high, but the sedum roof and siting at the bottom of the gravel pit (which also helps “natural thermal stability” and cuts light pollution), mean you could drive by and barely notice it.

The warehouse is built in an old gravel pit, keeping it virtually out of sight from the road

For the 470mm walls, the architects specified low-embodied energy Sumatec blocks from Lime Technology (LT), made from lime, quarry waste and locally grown hemp. Set on a 2.1m brick plinth for outside walls, these were to be bonded with lime mortar and the cavity loose-filled with LT's Tradical Hemcrete lime and hemp mix, with an exterior finish of lime render and lime and clay paint. The finished “sandwich” would boast a U-value of 0.18. The Nordic spruce glulam beams were also selected on environmental grounds; the fact, says Adnams, that they have inherently low U-values, absorb little heat and have 24 times less embodied energy than steel girders. An added attraction of the beams was their suitability for wide spans. In the warehouse they provide a 35m column-free space, making forklift drivers' lives far simpler than the nooks and crannies of its Victorian predecessor. The sedum on the 0.6ha aluminium standing seam roof was chosen to lower the building's U-values further, help regulate the temperature in the summer and capture
rainwater for washing vehicles and flushing loos.

 

The huge sedum roof captures rainwater for the loos

The aim of this unique combination of elements, said Magdani, was a structure that “completed the circle” in terms of eco-credentials. With the addition of solar panels providing 80% of the building's hot water, they were forecast to give annual energy savings of £32,000 over a standard industrial unit. Much of the construction approach was a learning curve for the architects, engineers Faber Maunsell and building contractor Haymills Construction, not least the use of the beams. The biggest are 41.6m long and weigh 10 tonnes. In addition, the building features 12 each at 38.7m and 21.6m. “The beams were produced by Lilleheden and we involved them early on in the design process and worked with them and the engineers to refine the profiles,” said Magdani.

Haymills had to liaise with the Highways Agency on the logistics of getting the glulam to site and delivery was staggered over a fortnight. Then the hard work began. The beams sit on steel columns and were hoisted into place without scaffolding using a 100-tonne crawler crane. According to Haymills' site manager Neil Pryke the project was a “first for all involved”. “No British construction site had used this length of glulam, so there was close liaison between Lilleheden, structural engineers and site-based personnel,” he said.

Beam balancing

Haymills also called on Mick King of timber structure specialists Woodworks. He advised on crane size and used models to predict how the glulam would move. Woodworks also lifted the beams into place, attaching straps either end with weights attached for stability as they were bolted to the steel. “It took around five weeks,” said Pryke. “The key problem was the wind. If it was more than 15-19mph we had to down tools. The smaller beams were the most difficult – in a breeze, they spun like sycamore seeds!”

The beams weighing up to 10 tonnes were lowered carefully onto the steel supports

There was also a slight problem with water staining before the roof was sealed, but affected areas on the beams were sanded and retreated with water-based microporous anti-fungicidal coating. Large areas of the wood are exposed externally, but these are protected by a combination of the microporous treatment and roof overhang.

The wall construction posed its own challenges. Sumatec had previously only been cast on site, so Adnams funded LT's development of the technique to make blocks and equipment to produce the 90,000 needed. Some initial batches crumbled and Haymills couldn't get the right equipment to pump the infill, so had to load it in manually. It also had to train local plasterers to apply the lime render.

The windy weather and subsequent drought, which affected the 'turfing' of the roof, added six weeks to the 40-week schedule, but the building was finally opened in September and, says Adnams, is now performing to specification. The combination of low U-value structure, passive ventilation and a barrier area between storage and despatch is keeping the interior at a constant 13O C; perfect for beer. The building does have heating, but this will only be used in the coldest weather. In fact, given its efficiency and rising fuel costs, Adnams now believes annual energy savings over a standard warehouse could be £60,000 and a BREEAM “excellent” rating looks in the offing.

The warehouse is kept at a constant, beer-perfect 13 deg C

The building also houses the equally energy-frugal sales and distribution office, a tranquil upper floor space the width of the building, with the glulam roof structure exposed above. The south-facing end wall comprises softwood-framed Velfac glazing, but the area is kept cool by natural ventilation, roof overhang and billowing, Adnams-branded brise-soleils.


Now it's finished, the warehouse is hosting visits from developers and architects interested in the construction approach. Adnams is also using it in its PR, confident it will go down well with today's environmentally conscious consumer – including the real beer die-hards. Next, of course, the latter will have to get used to the new chilled and filtered beer, Spindrift, and German-equipped brewhouse. But Adnams is convinced these will prove as palatable as the warehouse. “Spindrift will be brewed like our other beers using all-natural ingredients,” said Hibbert. “And we're confident the quality using the new brewing technology will be good as ever. We're running old and new systems in tandem for a smooth transition and won't say when we finally switch – we'll be interested to see if anyone notices!”