The UK's largest multi-storey automated freezer, built into a live production site.
The Greggs site at Balliol Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne is an extensive production facility currently made up of four large buildings - three bakery production areas (the Gosforth Park Bakery and Balliol Park Units B1 and B2) and a low-rise freezer unit serving and connecting directly to B1 and B2. The objective of Project Triton was to significantly expand the site's freezer capacity with a fully automated facility, removing the outdated freezer and creating an additional production line in its place.
The new store is a large -20°C freezer of approximately 4,200 square metres, with capacity for around 12,000 pallets over nine storage levels - the largest of its kind in the UK. An automated delivery system runs throughout, and six loading docks are accessible from a marshalling area held at +8°C. Because that workspace is generally populated, all suitable protective provisions were included for the operations staff. The freezer is built from a steel frame with cold store wall panels and a canopy structure for weather protection, with a low-bay steel-framed Amenities Block affixed to it housing offices, welfare facilities, plant rooms and stores - alongside new lorry and car parking with all the services needed for their safe use.
Full building services, refrigeration and life safety design for a highly automated facility.
Osborn Associates delivered the RIBA Stage 4 design with a Stage 5 review, covering the mechanical systems - ventilation, refrigeration, water and climate control - and the electrical installation of distribution, lighting and emergency lighting, small power and structured cabling, together with earthing and lightning protection systems.
The life safety and security scope was extensive: oxygen-reduction, sprinkler, gas and in-panel fire suppression, a fire detection and alarm system with smoke aspirating detection, plus CCTV, intruder alarm, access control, audio and intercom systems, all within a perimeter secured by fencing and access-controlled pedestrian and vehicle gates.
The client also requested a report proposing a new 11kV HV power supply ring-system throughout Balliol Park, increasing capacity to meet future demand and adding resilience to the network. That engineering proposal required collaboration with Northern Power Grid to achieve the client's objectives, and sat alongside proposed routes to net zero carbon for operational energy and construction, including a photovoltaic system, solar thermal panels and a hybrid variable refrigerant flow system.
New technology and a coastal climate, engineered around a working bakery.
Several factors combined to make Triton a demanding scheme. The site's proximity to the coast meant salt-laden air that accelerates corrosion of metal components such as coils and outdoor units, requiring careful material selection and consideration of maintenance access during design. The hybrid VRF system added further complexity: as a newer technology combining refrigerant and water-based heat exchange, it demanded advanced controls, leak prevention and precise installation and commissioning to perform reliably.
The increased electrical load from the new automation and production lines had to be comprehensively designed for, and integrating the new systems with the existing production lines required significant deliberation - above all because the Greggs site had to remain fully operational throughout the installation. Coordinating major new plant, a nine-level automated freezer and a live bakery on the same site was the defining discipline of the project.
