K-Mart Warehouse

Award:  Concrete Award

Project:  K-Mart Warehouse

Entrant:  Conslab Ltd

Owner:  Goodman Property

Architect:  Woodhams Miekle Zhan

Consultant:  MSC Consulting Group

Contractor:  Macrennie

What the judges said

How can a simple concrete floor slab win the Society's supreme Concrete Award? The panel of judges did briefly discuss this amongst themselves, and a visit to the K-Mart distribution warehouse at the Goodman Business Park in Wiri, South Auckland, quickly refinorced why this project was voted as the Award winner. The two slabs by Conslab: one, smooth, very flat and polished for high light reflectivity and easy cleaning inside the warehouse; and the second finished with a skid-resistant, free draining surface in the truck loading area outside, illustrated that exceptional level of concrete design and construction excellence which the Concrete Society Award demands. Inside the warehouse, Conslab had offered a performance-based design constructed to FM2, to the European racking code EN15620. This is a Standard that significantly exceeds the requirements of NZS3114. Conslab also gave their client single point responsibility for the slab designs, and for their ultimate performance. This project incorporates two different slab technologies, each perfectly executed to give many years of maintenance-free service in a very demanding commercial application. Inside the building, the owner's requirement was for a smooth flat floor with high light reflectivity for lifetime energy efficiency. Surface flatness was critical for narrow aisle, high-rack storage of the many products sold by K-Mart, while zero joint maintenance was essential. A post-tensioned joint-less floor was the most economical solution. Outside, the design requirement was for a self-draining, skid-resistant slab with the ability to take the concentrated point loads from stacked containers at any location. Steel-fibre reinforced concrete using high-performance Dramix fibres provided an economical solution for that load condition. Attention to detail was obvious throughout the job; from the recessed metal cover-plates around the roof columns and doorway movement joints, to the flush-finished manholes and surface drains which allowed unrestricted use of fork hoists and pallet trucks anywhere in the building or hard-standing area. Richie McCaw has recently been quoted as saying that he is constantly seeking to improve his game - it was obvious to the judging panel that Conslab take the same approach to commercial floor design and construction. This has been an evolutionary development to arrive at solutions that represent the highest standards in economical, environmentally sensitive concrete floor slab performance. K-Mart as tenant had commented that the floor was seamless and added significant value to the way their distribution facility functioned.

The K-Mart Warehouse is an outstanding example of how excellence in concrete flooring contributes to the overall efficiency and productivity of a warehouse for the tenant.  The design and construction have enhanced the value of the building to the owner with a highly durable concrete surface with low maintenance, flexible for any change in use and with a gloss that is attractive to future tenants.