A new distribution warehouse for the supermarket giant is one of the largest in the UK, boasting a floor area of more than 68,000m².

Used to house valuable stock items awaiting delivery to Tesco stores, the distribution centre consists of two main spaces: a high rack storage area at ground level and a goods in/out office area.

Buro Happold was appointed to conduct a fire engineering analysis of the warehouse and validate a safe means of escape. Challenges were posed by an 80m travel distance within the warehouse and the presence of full height rack storage, which limited the positioning of smoke vents and down stands.

Fire modelling techniques using Computational Fluid Dynamics were used to predict the movement of smoke and heat within the space and determine a safe evacuation time that satisfied building regulations.