Americold - Icecap Extension
Americold is a multinational cold store operator with 248 temperature-controlled warehouses worldwide. An ongoing partnership with Woolworths NZ led Americold to expand operations and storage capacity at their Wiri, Auckland site.
Americold appointed Apollo Projects to lead the expansion project that provided an additional 14000m2 of freezer space to the existing 7000m2 footprint.
The project's initial design was costly. Apollo was able to identify innovative solutions for an efficient design that better fit Americold's brief and budget. By reconsidering the brief, we were able to shrink the footprint, which decreased the amount of required resources, such as concrete. Refrigerants can have a major impact on a project's carbon footprint, so a low-charge ammonia system was chosen for this project's cold stores. A low-charge ammonia system is a proven alternative to HFC-based systems, offering significant energy improvement.
Considered an essential service, this project continued throughout the Covid-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. In that environment, the on-site team was confined to essential personnel and travel was limited. Physical distancing and mask wearing was compulsory and breaks were scheduled in work groups. To help mitigate other Covid-19 complications, a Project Risk Register was established. This document considered supply chain disruptions, the possibility of having an infected person on-site, and the potential government shut down of the premises. In utilising the Register, we took pre-emptive steps such as purchasing offshore items early and having alternative suppliers on standby.
While comparable projects were impacted by lockdowns and supply-chain, Apollo was prepared to deliver despite these challenges. The project was successfully delivered under budget, on-time, and succeeded all expectations.
