From A to Z, the Waberer’s Ecseri Logistics Centre was built with the capacities of the Bayer Construct

In Ecseren, next to the M0 ring road and close to Liszt Ferenc International Airport, the largest greenfield investment in the history of the Waberer’s Group was built at a cost of approximately HUF 18 billion. We spoke with Zoltán Várnai, project manager of Bayer Construct Zrt., about the 47,000-square-metre complex.

Last July, reported on the topping-out ceremony, and almost a year later, we were able to see the details of the completed building. The contractors erected a reinforced concrete pillar frame hall, the entire prefabricated structure of which was manufactured at the VIASTEIN plant in Biharkeresztes.

Extra heavy duty floor

In the larger part of the hall, which is used for shelved storage, the industrial floor is 22 centimetres thick, and in the smaller space for cross-dock transfer and storage, 20 centimetres thick, with full underlay, plastic fibre reinforcement and a self-leveling surface with surface hardener.

The floor of the large hall section is designed for a distributed load of 8 tonnes/m², which is higher than the 5-tonne load floor commonly used in similar halls.

Waberer’s chose this solution because of its versatility and the strict quality requirements were already defined during the tender phase. Using monolithic concrete technology, the 47,000 square metres of large-area, blast-free industrial flooring was completed by Bayer Construct staff in roughly two months, from mid-October to the end of December.

Certified state of the art

In total, 79 sectional doors and 64 Crawford ramp levellers were installed in the project. In addition, two of the dock gates are combi-docks, which are much deeper than standard dock gates and have a split nose plate to facilitate loading of smaller transport vehicles.

"In addition to its high technical content, the hall is unique in that it is equipped entirely with a heat-pump heating-cooling system, which, using ambient air energy combined with solar panels, is a very cost-effective solution. We did not even install a natural gas connection," said the project manager. This is one of the reasons why the hall has been awarded the BREEAM Very Good rating for sustainable building development; and a silver rating from the Access4you rating for the different groups of people with disabilities."

Offices have also been built for several functions: Waberer’s's staff are served by around 1,500 square metres of ground-floor and two-storey office blocks, which are designed to be accessible to wheelchair users, the hearing impaired and visually impaired. They are also provided with a variety of assistive devices. These include an induction loop used in public institutions to help people with hearing aids, but the office is also suitable for people with cognitive impairments.

Latest technology, serious capacity

The building is clad with a sandwich panel cladding, with 10 cm PIR (closed-cell polyurethane foam) insulation on the general surfaces and mineral fibre insulation at the fire barriers.

A large truck parking area, a 100-space car park and a complete road network serving the hall were also part of the contractor's tasks. Of particular note, in addition to the electric passenger car, was the installation of a significant number of electric truck charging points to serve the Waberer’s alternative powertrain fleet.

"33,000 square metres of paving around the hall, which was delivered to the site from the VIASTEIN factory."

- said Zoltán Várnai.

The excellent cooperation between the client and the contractor was also reflected in the fact that every possible transport was carried out with the Waberer’s fleet - including international and domestic transport.

From the very beginning, the client had high standards and tight control over the construction process. However, the project manager recalls the biggest challenge as being the deadlines:

"It took 15 months to complete, including the detailed design. During this time, we completed the entire construction from the building permit to the commissioning procedure and handed over the building to the Waberer’s Group on time."