IN Brief:
- CleanSpace has established ColdSpace as a design-build division for refrigerated food processing spaces and cold storage facilities.
- The service brings construction, refrigeration, racking, automation, controls and software together through a single contractor.
- Two senior commercial appointments support the launch, although no completed ColdSpace projects or contract values have been reported.
CleanSpace has launched ColdSpace, a specialist division offering integrated design and construction services for refrigerated processing rooms, walk-in coolers, freezer warehouses and other temperature-controlled facilities. The US business plans to coordinate refrigeration plant, building construction, racking, automation, controls and software through a single design-build contract.
ColdSpace extends CleanSpace’s work in controlled industrial environments into refrigerated distribution and processing. Food and beverage producers are among its intended customers, alongside pharmaceutical, life sciences and other operators that require temperature-managed spaces. The launch creates a new design-build service for projects of differing sizes, from processing rooms to large frozen warehouses.
Its proposed scope ranges from smaller refrigerated processing spaces to high-cube frozen warehouses. Those facilities differ substantially in temperature requirements, loading patterns and internal layout, but their refrigeration, building fabric and material-handling systems have to operate together. ColdSpace’s delivery model places responsibility for the coordination of those systems with one supplier, instead of leaving the operator to manage several separate major contractors.
Building design can have a direct effect on cooling-system performance. Room dimensions, insulation, doors, vapour barriers and the movement of people and vehicles influence the heat entering a cold space. The refrigeration system must remove that heat while supporting the temperatures required by the stored or processed products. Designing the envelope and cooling equipment together can reduce the risk of late changes to plant capacity or to the building services layout.
Food processing facilities introduce another set of operating conditions. Some production rooms need temperature control alongside frequent cleaning, wet processes, hygiene zoning and rapid movement of ingredients or finished goods. A cooler serving a packing line may have different door openings and internal traffic from a warehouse storing palletised frozen products. The engineering design has to reflect actual operation rather than simply the air temperature required at commissioning.
ColdSpace will also address racking and automated material handling. High-bay frozen stores often use dense pallet storage, and the position of racks can influence aisle widths, access routes and airflow distribution. Automated storage and retrieval systems create further interfaces between the structural layout, equipment controls and inventory software. The division intends to include these systems from the beginning of project design so that mechanical and material-flow plans can be developed together.
ColdSpace’s proposed engineering scope includes sensors, refrigeration controllers, door systems and supervisory software that support temperature control across several zones. Warehouse systems may also track goods through storage and dispatch, connecting operational records with handling equipment. Integrating these functions at the design stage allows refrigeration and material-flow requirements to be considered in the same facility layout.
CleanSpace plans to deliver projects using its established planning, engineering, US manufacturing, construction, qualification and facility support capabilities. The new division will draw on that platform for customers with refrigeration and distribution requirements. The company has begun developing the service and has not yet identified a completed ColdSpace installation.
A single design-build contract brings the interfaces between racking, refrigeration pipework, structural details and automation equipment into one project team. Changes to a storage layout can then be assessed against mechanical and control systems before installation, reducing the need to reconcile separate contractors’ designs late in construction. Specialist engineering and commissioning remain central to delivering the specified temperatures and movement capacity.
Food safety requirements also depend on the goods and processes handled by the finished facility. Maintaining an air temperature is only one element of ensuring that ingredients and finished products remain within specified conditions during receipt, storage, picking and dispatch. Door usage, product dwell times and temperature monitoring contribute to operational performance. ColdSpace is offering the design and integration capability; individual clients will still define the product-specific performance criteria for their sites.
Two appointments accompany the launch. Michael O’Neill has joined as director of sales, national, and Michelle Grojean as director of marketing. Their responsibilities centre on building ColdSpace’s commercial presence and relationships with prospective operators. CleanSpace has not given a workforce figure for the new division or a start date for its first completed project.
The business already serves customers requiring cleanrooms, dry rooms and other controlled environments. Moving into cold storage broadens the types of facilities covered by that engineering and construction model while bringing refrigeration and warehouse logistics more prominently into the project scope. The company says customers will be able to engage a single accountable partner from early planning through installation and subsequent support.
ColdSpace’s initial work will centre on developing integrated refrigerated-facility projects for customers whose storage and production systems must operate at specified temperatures. The division has been established and commercial staff appointed, with construction, cooling equipment, racking and controls forming the service offering. Its future project specifications will be set by the goods handled and the operational requirements of each customer.
