When Welconstruct Customer Solutions was given the contract to turn an old factory into a modern 9,000 square metre distribution centre for ChoicesUK, it not only needed to ensure that the distribution centre would work efficiently but also that staff picking product on the mezzanine floor could continue to work during the heat of the summer when inside temperatures would reach in excess of 30°C.

The solution came with a Breezair Evaporative Cooling System, from Seeley International (Europe), and the system has reduced inside temperatures to a comfortable 22°C, even on the hottest day, says the company in a press release.
ChoicesUK is one of the largest home entertainment chains in the UK, with 190 stores nationwide. Its stores sell and rent a wide range of DVDs and games as well as selling CDs, sweets, drinks and ice cream. The company’s website, launched in 1998, sells a wide range of music, DVDs, games and mobile phones. Continuing expansion of both its stores and website necessitated the company acquiring additional storage close to the company’s headquarters in Peterborough.
Once Welconstruct had fitted out the warehouse with a 5,300 square metre mezzanine floor, offices and racking on both the ground and mezzanine floor, it turned its attention to cooling. Welconstruct offered ChoicesUK the options of air conditioning, a ventilation system or Breezair. The company settled on the Breezair option after rejecting air conditioning as prohibitively expensive to install and run and a ventilation system as inappropriate for the building.

Having already installed Breezair evaporative cooling into a previous warehouse installation, Welconstruct was already aware of Breezair’s cost effective cooling capabilities. Simon Wilkins, a Project Manager at Welconstruct surveyed the site and calculated that 23 Breezair coolers installed onto the roof of the warehouse complex would provide sufficient cooling to overcome high summer temperatures thereby ensuring that the 300 personnel could continue working right through summer.
“First and foremost we needed to think about staff welfare on the top mezzanine floor, as we did not want to have to shut down the upper floor when temperatures became intolerably high”, said Jay Wiggins, Logistics Director at ChoicesUK. “Breezair evaporative cooling is a first rate system for a number of reasons. It provides cooled fresh air as well as natural ventilation and in addition to being cost effective it was quick and easy to install, maintenance is minimal and it is also environmentally friendly”.

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