As a business grows so does the requirements for office space. An expanding work force often means additional facilities are required. These requirements are typically office space, WC areas, breakouts areas, meeting spaces and locker rooms.

A mezzanine floor can be a standalone structure within a warehouse or can adjoin to an existing office space, and by knocking through to the existing space can easily offer the additional space required. By taking advantage of the head height in the building, a mezzanine floor can provide you with an abundance of space, whilst having a minimal impact on the operations below the floor. When combined with a demountable partitioning system the whole scheme is very affordable and very quick to install.

Mezzanine flooring can also offer additional office space at other locations within your warehouse. A very popular solution is to retro fit a mezzanine floor to provide a new office for a production manager so they can be close to their team. Whatever the requirement, if you are looking to create additional office space and you have the available head height, a mezzanine is a great solution.

Often when acquiring a new warehouse, business owners are faced with the challenge of fitting out the new premises. Developers generally provide minimal facilities within a new build warehouse often providing only a small WC and office area. This leaves the new occupier the challenge of building new office space to house their operations.

Over the past few years, office mezzanine floors have been the go-to solution for these requirements. When compared with a traditional breeze block solution, which are costly, inflexible and require the assistance of an architect, a mezzanine floor is a breath of fresh air. Mezzanine floors can be designed around almost any floor plan and can accommodate all aspects of the build including office space, WC facilities, Reception area, meeting rooms breakout spaces, archive rooms and much more…

When combined with a stud and track partitioning system, a mezzanine floor offers business owners a solution that is flexible, cost effective and reduces the installation time and procurement stage dramatically.

In a similar fashion to office mezzanine floors, production mezzanines are also a great solution for business owners.

If you are considering building a workshop in your warehouse, by installing a mezzanine floor above the workshop you can double the floor space available to you. The floor can then be used for storage space or it future proofs you by providing the opportunity to expand the workshop onto the first floor at a later date if required.

Mezzanine floors can easily be combined with steel or plasterboard partitioning, electrics, air compressor systems or air conditioning systems.

Particularly popular in the printing sector, mezzanine floors can also be designed to accommodate machinery and by introducing an air conditioning system, temperature-controlled rooms can be created in no time. Also, as the floor of the mezzanine is constructed from 38mm timber deck, electrical floor boxes can easily be installed within the floor directly under machinery or benches.

Originally this was the most common use of a mezzanine floor and was popular within the pallet racking and storage industry. Due to the simple construction of a mezzanine floor, they allowed companies to build platforms within their warehouse to store additional shelving or components.

Over time the complexity of the floors evolved and now they are incorporated into the design of the most modern warehouse environments. Offering great flexibility, storage mezzanine floors can be used to either store additional shelving or pallet storage. A mezzanine floor is typically designed to accommodate 500kg pallets which in essence means the entire floor can be filled with 500kg pallets and generally most warehouse floors can accommodate this load.

This offers enormous flexibility for business owners. Particularly if you have slow moving stock or need to store palletised items that are bulky or do not store well in pallet racking.

Access to and from the floor is easy too. The most popular way to load and unload pallets from a floor is by means of a pallet gate. These can be designed around most pallet sizes and offer protection for staff and operatives to safely load and unload products onto the floor. A pallet gate is a simple device and as long as you have a forklift truck it’s an option available to you.

Goods lifts and conveyor systems are two other ancillaries available to you and are popular with companies who ship out high volumes of individual items. An example would be Amazon, who utilise conveyors to transport hundreds of thousands of items around their warehouse every day.

If you have taken on more staff within your warehouse it is likely that you will need to provide additional facilities to accommodate the increased number of people working for you. Larger facilities will be required for lunch areas, WC facilities and locker/changing areas.

Because a mezzanine floor can be built above your existing factory floor, they offer a fantastic solution to accommodate these increased numbers. A robust solution, that when combined with steel or plasterboard solutions can be incredibly durable and hard wearing. Kitchen and toilet areas can easily be accommodated, assuming there is access to existing services. Whilst materials such as hard-wearing vinyl flooring and wipe clean walls can ensure the environment will stand the test of time.

The additional canteen, WC or locker room can also be located on the ground floor allowing you to take advantage of the space on the mezzanine floor above instead. Mezzanines can also be designed to accommodate all sorts of storage solutions and can even accommodate plant and machinery. If the mezzanine is designed correctly it can also be added onto in the future, giving you even more flexibility.

We offer a complete turn-key solution when it comes to mezzanine floor projects. We take care of you right from the design stage, providing detailed drawings and quotations, right through to the completion of your project. We incorporate all aspects into our package, including mezzanine floor, partitions, plumbing, electrics, air conditioning, flooring, ceilings and more…

If your business is growing and you require additional space to increase your production capacity, a mezzanine floor could be the perfect solution. We have increased production space quickly and affordably for a range of industries.

Because mezzanine floors can be installed above existing production space, they can literally double your business’s capacity, giving you the freedom to expand your business without the hassle and cost of moving premises.

Mezzanine floors can accommodate most machinery and when combined with pallet gates, lifts, chutes or conveyors, stock and raw materials can easily be transferred between floors. Mezzanines can also accommodate heavy pallets which can easily be moved around on pallet trucks allowing you to move stock around quickly and easily.

If you are contemplating introducing a mezzanine floor into your business but you are concerned about a loss of production whilst the build takes place, we can implement strategies that ensure downtime is kept to a minimum. This can involve working irregular hours such as evenings and weekends, or creating a detailed relocation programme that highlight what needs to be in place on what day.

Not only do we offer the mezzanine floor, we also provide all ancillaries associated with a production mezzanine floors. Our turn-key solutions include all electrics, power, data, lighting, conveyors, lifts and much more…

Our experts will visit your premises to talk through your requirements and carry out a site survey. Our surveys require no obligation on your part and they are free of charge. Our experts will spend anywhere between an hour and a full day measuring your space.

Completing a site survey is paramount to providing an accurate design and quotation. When we design your mezzanine floor, we must conform to UK building regulations, so seeing the space first hand makes sure we understand what’s involved in providing the right solution for your business.

Extra care is taken in these challenging times and all surveyors or representatives will be equipped with the appropriate PPE in line with the government guidelines surrounding covid-19.

We provide a complete mezzanine floor solution from the initial site survey through to the build of your new premises. Each and every aspect of your project is carried out by our team of expert designers, project managers and installers. This is particularly appealing as it ticks the relevant boxes that are required from you regarding health and safety.

You need a main contractor to complete the construction of the build who is also responsible for all the sub-contractors. With our one-stop shop solution, not only do you save a huge headache in managing the project, you can also relax knowing you have covered all your obligations from a health and safety perspective.

Once your new concept drawings are finalised and agreed upon by you, we’ll create a detailed proposal for your project. Every cost involved within the project will be itemised, making it easy for you to understand what you’re paying for. We believe transparency is key.

As mentioned previously, not only do you have the benefit of having one contractor completing the project under one umbrella, you also fulfil your health and safety obligations and receive excellent value for money to boot. Our prices are very competitive against comparative sub-contractors, but the added bonus we bring is that the design of your new space is included within our pricing structure also.

Your mezzanine floor project will be assigned one of our experienced project managers at the pre-construction phase. They will be on hand to answer any questions you may have during the project and they will ensure it’s implemented safely, on time and to your budget.

Depending on the size and scale of your project you could also be assigned a dedicated site foreman or site manager. The site managers are appointed on large or more complex projects and ensure that the site runs smoothly on a day to day basis.

Throughout the project your dedicated project manager will ensure your mezzanine project runs smoothly and will act as your one point of call throughout the build phase.  Your project manager will also be in touch with you throughout the build providing progress reports and depending on the complexity of your project, meeting you for weekly or fortnightly meetings.

All our projects are designed and implemented with the strictest building regulations and health and safety practices in mind. The safety of all involved is our utmost concern and you can rest assured that all correct procedures will be followed during your mezzanine project.

All prospective projects are approved by a building control officer prior to the submission of a proposal and quotation. The building control officer is responsible for ensuring all aspects of the projects confirm with building regulations. This could involve fire detection, travel distances to corridors, ensuring offices are the correct size and much, much more.

We make sure all of these items are considered on any of our projects. At the end of the project you will be issued with a certificate to show that your project complies with building control and the building control officer will attend site with the fire authorities to sign off the project.

For any project that involves more than one contractor, you are required by law to appoint in writing both a Principal Designer and a Principal Contractor. Luckily for you, we have vast experience with acting as both, making it easier for you.

It is worth reading up about your responsibilities when undertaking any project within your premises. The links to the HSE guidance surrounding your obligations regarding Principal Designers and Contractors can be found here:

Principal Designer (link)
Principal Contractor (link)

We will guide you through the whole process of implementing not only a successful build but also one that complies with all your obligations in relation to the HSE. We have vast experience acting as both principal designer and contractor and have implemented a wide range of projects.

Just as with any other building work, mezzanine flooring must conform to current UK building regulations. To ensure that your mezzanine floor complies with these regulations, we work closely with an approved building inspector. This allows us to ‘pre-approve’ your mezzanine floor application and begin construction as soon as the building notice has been submitted and acknowledged. This process usually takes about a week.

Upon completion of your mezzanine floor installation, the inspector will visit your premises to ensure that it has been built with the agreed plans in mind. It will then be signed off and your certificate will be issued.

For mezzanine floors that are required to be fire rated, the building inspector will also be accompanied by a fire officer, so that they can check that the structure complies with fire safety regulations.

Where mezzanine floors are utilised for office space, we also ensure that the entire design meets with the current requirements from a building control perspective. This involves all fire and escape route requirements and takes into consideration all other mechanical and electrical requirements such as heating, ventilation and smoke detection.

Mezzanine floors are incredibly flexible and can be designed to accommodate a multitude of uses including the accommodation of heavy machinery.

However, particularly heavy machinery and machinery that creates a heavy point load (machinery that sits on feet) can become difficult to accommodate. When designing a floor to accommodate machinery its essential that the floor is designed with all the information regarding the machinery disclosed beforehand.

Manufacturers can usually provide the weight and dimensions of their machinery and this information can be used to ensure the mezzanine is designed correctly. It is also beneficial to see the piece of machinery in action. Sometimes mezzanine floors can struggle to accommodate machinery that has excessive vibrations, so witnessing the machinery in operation will allow us to determine if a mezzanine is a suitable solution.

This information also needs cross referencing with the warehouse slab. This information will be available to you in the buildings operation and maintenance manual and will allow us to make sure the warehouse slab is also capable of the loads.

Our job at Nexus is to gather all this information from you and work on a design to determine if the machinery you wish to house on the floor is a viable option. With all the information detailed above we can cross reference each section and ensure everything will work.

Mezzanine floors are often bespoke structures and therefore it is difficult to throw a blanket price out there. Particularly when you consider that your business will have specific needs for your project. You may need to incorporate other items such as electrics or partitioning to achieve your requirements.

The design of a mezzanine floor is also dictated by UK building control. Travel distances to fire escapes, the size of the building and the intended use of the mezzanine floor are all factors that need to be considered when designing and installing a mezzanine floor.

All these elements affect the cost of the project. However, mezzanine floors represent great value for money overall, especially when you weigh up the alternative options. The cost of a mezzanine floor will range in price, from around £75 to £120 per square metre and when you compare it to the cost of moving premises, having a mezzanine floor installed could be up to 80% cheaper!

Our aim is to offer your business a design that maximises your return on investment. Rest assured that when we design your floor we will value engineer all the components so that we are not only offering a solution that adds the maximum value from a solutions perspective but also provides a design that minimises the cost from a build and implantation perspective.

Because every building is different and every client has their own criteria, every mezzanine floor is a bespoke solution. A thorough site survey and analysis will be carried out to identify where the mezzanine floor will be situated and how the columns will be incorporated into the existing structure.

Sometimes columns can be hidden in the walls of the spaces being created below the mezzanine, or they may be integrated into an existing shelving layout. Whatever your specific requirements, our experienced designers will work closely with you to create a floor plan that will fit your exact needs, ensuring that it’s entirely fit for purpose.

The goal of the mezzanine floor design is to make the columns as inconspicuous as possible. Everyone wants to avoid unnecessary columns, and a good mezzanine designer can figure out a solution with minimum impact to the floor space. 

One area to consider is the capability of your warehouse floor slab. This information should be available to you in your building’s operation and maintenance pack. If you can dig out this information, it will allow the designer to maximise the column grid to suit the integrity of your warehouse floor. It is worth finding out this information as this is the only way to design a column grid that has the minimum impact on your floor space.

On average, the lead time from signing off drawing designs to the delivery of your mezzanine floor will take around four to five weeks – so about five or six weeks from point of order.

Our mezzanine flooring installation team can fit approximately 100m2 per day, so you can work out roughly how long the installation process will take depending on the footprint of your mezzanine. If your mezzanine floor requires fire rating, this will take about the same amount of time again.

If you are looking to use your mezzanine floor for office use, the install time will be increased in line with the complexity of your build. Whilst the mezzanine floor is generally one of the quickest parts of the build when implementing an office fit out project, the rest of the elements of the build will increase the duration of the project.

A small to medium office fit out generally takes 8-12 weeks, whereas large projects can range from 16-24 weeks depending on the complexity. All the works for your project and the dates when they will commence and be completed will be detailed in a programme of works that we will provide for you at the outset of the build.

Sometimes a mezzanine floor needs to be fire rated, this will depend on its intended use, and is a legal building regulation that must be complied with. Fire rating a mezzanine floor involves the installation of a suspended floor on the underside, and protecting columns and fascias with a plastisol material.

Any floor that has people working permanently below or above the mezzanine floor will require fire protection. The purpose of fire protection is to ensure the structure can survive a fire for a minimum of 60 minutes allowing people to safely leave the mezzanine floor. Sometimes building control also stipulate fire protected staircases, although this is generally applicable to large projects.

Another building regulation for fire protection is the installation of smoke detection underneath the mezzanine floor. This is achieved by the installation of smoke detectors that are linked to your fire alarm, which provide early detection in the case of a fire and alert people to the situation.

Mezzanine flooring that’s been constructed for storage use doesn’t require fire rating, however if it totals 50% or more of your building’s overall footprint or runs for a length of over 20 metres in any direction, this exclusion may not apply and you may still be required to have your mezzanine fire rated. These regulations are designed to ensure the safety of your staff and visitors.

In order to determine the maximum weight your mezzanine can take, we need to obtain information regarding your current warehouse slab. This information should be contained within your operations and maintenance manual for the building. If you don’t have this information to hand its worth contacting your landlord or the company that originally built the facility.

If you don’t have access to slab details, a core test may be required. This will involve a company attending site to take small samples of the floor (generally three or four small holes are drilled in the floor). Once this sample is taken it is then sent to a structural engineer to work out the slabs capacity. This information is required from a building control perspective, but it also allows us to work out your maximum loads and design a column grid that maximises your space.

A standard mezzanine floor for office use is designed to take 360kg per square metre (3.6kn/m2), with storage and production mezzanine flooring being built to hold up to 500 kg per square metre (4.8kn/m2).

Mezzanine flooring can accommodate shelving, racking, office furniture or even a half ton pallet loaded onto a pallet truck. But we will need to know exactly what you intend to use it for to ensure that the design is appropriate and can support the weight load required.

It’s even possible to design a mezzanine floor that will take a ton per square metre, which is useful if you need to install heavy machinery. However, this will usually require alterations to be made to the existing concrete floor.

Mezzanine floors are always bespoke, as they are specifically designed to suit the premises they were originally intended for. However, if it’s a fairly straightforward design you may be able to take it with you, providing your new building has a layout that will support it being installed in exactly the same way.

The more complicated your mezzanine floor design, the less likely that you’ll be able to move it to a new building. Although due to the versatility of a mezzanine floor, new components can be designed and added to the design to make it work in your new space.

Other elements of the mezzanine floor such as lighting, suspended ceilings and partitions can also be dismantled and re-utilised. If you anticipate the need for a relocation of your mezzanine floor, it is best to bring this up in conversation with the designer, so that materials with the most flexibility can be specified for your project.

If you let us know at the design stage, we can create a design that is able to be relocated in the future. By standardising the column grid, eliminating any complex steel designs and choosing ancillary materials (such as partitioning) that are also demountable, we can design a floor that can move when you move.