Icy precision for the Nagel Group: Panattoni converts Brownfield into a refrigerated hall for foodstuff storage

Panattoni realised a customised commercial property for the Nagel Group. The build-to-own project in Schweitenkirchen poses a special challenge: for its current use, the warehouse has to consistently maintain double-digit negative temperatures.

Fresh from the frozen foods section: Panattoni realises refrigerated hall

Panattoni realised a build-to-own property with a refrigerated hall in Schweitenkirchen, Bavaria for the Nagel Group, a logistics company specialised in foodstuffs logistics. A moder and sustainable new building was built on the 23,000 m² property in the immediate vicinity of the company’s first site. In order to maintain a constant temperature of -24°C in the 10,000 m² hall, several structural particularities had to be taken into account.

Flipped around and well insulated: special design physics

Instead of being on the mezzanine level, as is usually the case in Panattoni buildings, the 700 m² of office space in Schweitenkirchen are located on the ground floor, in front of the warehouse. This way, the transition from cold to warm can be better penetrated.

In halls without special temperature requirements, the temperature differential is greatest in the winter, ranging from 20°C indoors and -10°C outside. In refrigerated halls, the differential is markedly higher in the summer, when it ranges from an outdoor temperature of 35°C and an indoor temperature of -24°C. The design physics is therefore reversed: the cold side goes inside and the heat outside. All of the moving parts like doors and smoke and heat extraction vents are equipped with frame heaters to prevent them from freezing. Large, uninterrupted components like supports auxiliary heaters prevent the formation of ice from condensation. The floor also has to be well isolated and the underlying subsurface must be heated to prevent the soil from freezing.

DGNB gold certification planned

Panattoni aims to obtain the DGNB gold certification for the property. Therefore, the developer placed great value on a high degree of third-party usability. Since this is a so-called multi-temperature hall, it can also be operated at positive temperatures and can be used as, among other things, a classical warehouse. The developer was able to prevent new surface sealing by revitalising the Brownfield. So the Nagel Group is able to supply the refrigerated hall with electricity and shade in the summer, static and electrotechnical frames were pre-installed on the roof for photovoltaics systems. Noise protection walls, insect hotels and nesting aids for birds and bats contribute towards biodiversity and conserving the surrounding area.

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