Maersk Ruakura: Setting New Standards in Efficiency and Sustainability
The recently completed Maersk Coldstore project at the Ruakura Inland Port near Hamilton seamlessly blends the latest in innovation, sustainability, and functionality. Apollo commenced design in early 2022, was on site in August 2022 and the 18,000m2 build on a 40,000m2 site was completed in February 2024. Some stages were handed over for occupation by Maersk earlier and the design and build delivery of this significant project was delivered by Apollo Projects on time and within budget.
Standout features of this world-class cold store facility include an innovative condensate recovery system for water cooling, extensive rainwater harvesting, and the use of lithium reach and forklifts for enhanced operational efficiency. A massive solar array generating over 1.52MW of renewable energy furthered sustainability efforts.
Sustainability was a significant area for consideration throughout this project. Featuring a fully integrated Building Management System (BMS) allows for full control of all services and the CO2 refrigeration system, which is understood to be one of the largest systems in the world, uses waste heat for heating the office and the underfloor glycol system. The building layout, led by Apollo, was instrumental in saving over 80 kilometres of reticulation piping for the facility which also had significant cost savings. Apollo demonstrated its commitment to efficiency and sustainability by ensuring the effective on-site recycling of polystyrene, as pictured on the right. In partnership with Kingspan, Apollo organised the recycling of an estimated 125m3 of polystyrene, which was transported to one of New Zealand's few recycling facilities, located in Auckland.
A project of this scale does not come without its challenges which included the managing continuing effects of supply chain issues and inflation following the Covid pandemic and several heavy rainfall events during construction. Apollo Projects worked constructively and collaboratively with the client and project management team to ensure that these issues did not impact the delivery of the project with it still being delivered to schedule.
In summary, the Maersk Ruakura project sets a new standard for construction excellence, highlighting Apollo's capability and commitment. Apollo’s resilience, innovation, and sustainability features position it as a leading cold chain facility in New Zealand.
