Bapcor’s new warehouse takes shape

2 October 2020

A new 50,000 square metre warehouse, using Stramit quality products, is taking shape at Melbourne Airport to distribute parts for Bapcor, Australasia's leading provider of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, equipment and services.

Bapcor houses one of the widest ranges of car parts in the world for thousands of vehicle makes and models. The company’s key trade, retail and service businesses include Burson, Autobarn, Autopro, Midas and ABS. Due to business expansion and future growth plans, Bapcor has strategically invested in the consolidation of 12 existing warehouses into one largescale technologically advanced warehouse in Tullamarine. The new facility will store the entire range of parts from Bapcor’s trade, specialist, wholesale and retail businesses under one roof.

The Bapcor warehouse project is being constructed by Qanstruct, with structural steel fabrication recently completed by contractor Pacifico Structural Steel. Stramit is providing roofing, bridging and purlins for this significant project, which is scheduled for completion in December 2020.

Sulabh Desai, project manager, Pacifico said, “We used 48,000 metres of the Stramit Exacta® Z Purlin system and 13,407 metres of Stramit bridging for this largescale project because the inbuilt structural design efficiencies of these products maximise product performance.”

Stramit’s Exacta® Z Purlin system is dimensionally optimised for the most commonly used roof spans. Using the exclusive Stramit® Moment Capacity Design Method, structural engineers can design for irregular configurations and complex loadings with standard frame analysis software. This allows up to 20 per cent of savings in purlin steel by improving purlin capacity and increasing spans or spacing.

Sulabh Desai said, “The Stramit Exacta® purlins provide significant savings in purlin steel, which saves on construction costs. Both the Stramit purlins and bridging were easy for our construction team to install, and these products will provide an ongoing benefit to Bapcor because they won’t require maintenance.

“In selecting a supply partner, our team needed the assurance of a supplier that had large capacity, reliability and quality. Due to site access constraints at Melbourne Airport, the project timeline was highly demanding, and involved up to four full semi-trailer loads of product each day.

“The Stramit service promise ensured that our high-quality products arrived on site exactly when we needed them, which helped our construction team deliver on our scope of work ahead of schedule.”

Darren Hargreaves, commercial sales manager, southern region, Stramit said, “We continue to work with contractor KTB Roofing Solutions on the Bapcor warehouse construction site through the supply of 45,000 square metres of speed deck and 8,000 square metres of Monoclad®.

“KTB Roofing Solutions has selected the Stramit Speed Deck Ultra® profile because of its excellent water carrying capacity, especially at low pitches. This unique product has a four-point fixing clip that exceeds all building expectations with regard to serviceability and strength, which are critical in building design. The concealed fixed Speed Deck Ultra® roof sheeting is the leading choice for many commercial builders and roofing contractors Australia-wide and, in fact, Stramit Speed Deck Ultra® is the only roofing profile to ever win an Australian Design award.

“The combination of Stramit Exacta® Z Purlins and Stramit Speed Deck Ultra® concealed fixed decking allows the construction of economical, high-performance roofs for large portal frame buildings such as the Bapcor facility.

“This 50,000 square metre warehouse reflects an increasing trend towards large, high-quality logistics facilities in Melbourne.”