Gazeley has completed what it says is the UK’s largest and tallest speculative warehouse at its Magna Park Milton Keynes development.
The 574,000 ft2 building, known as Altitude, is 21 metres high compared to an industry standard of 15 metres. It is designed to be as flexible as possible and is capable of accommodating five mezzanine floors and both very narrow aisle (VNA) or wide-aisle racking, or a combination of the two.
There are 117 double-deck loading doors and parking for 217 HGVs. The building, which took six months to complete, includes more than 40,000 ft2 of office space. Gazeley said that its position, between junctions 13 and 14 of the M1, means that it can reach 85% of the British population within 4.5 hours.
A number of sustainability features have also been included such as LED lighting, solar thermal heating, rainwater harvesting, power charging stations for electric vehicles and strengthened steel in the roof, so that solar panels can be accommodated if desired – potentially saving an occupier 1.3 million kg of CO2 per annum, Gazeley said.
The building has been designed to the WELL Ready Standard certification which ensures that there is sufficient air, water and light quality and that the design encourages good morale and high productivity.
Current occupiers at Magna Park Milton Keynes include River Island, AG Barr, UK Mail, Waitrose and John Lewis, which has three warehouses totalling 1.95 million ft2.
Gazeley development director Joe Garwood commented: “Magna Park Milton Keynes is already one of the UK’s most established hubs for logistics and the development of Altitude will only serve to strengthen that position.
“Altitude brings together a combination of innovation, technology, efficiency, sustainability and intelligent logistical thinking to create a building that sets a new benchmark for the industry.”
