We plan your mezzanine around the way your business works. From column positions and access to the space above and below, the design brings your building and operational needs together.
We set out the scope and associated costs in a clear quotation. You can see what is included, understand the fit-out requirements and make an informed decision about your project.
From survey and design through to construction and fit-out, Nexus can manage the complete project. One experienced team coordinates the work and keeps you informed throughout.
Mezzanine floors have been at the heart of Nexus since 2009. We deliver them as standalone installations or as part of a complete office or warehouse fit-out, planned around your premises.
Need more room for your business? A mezzanine floor makes use of the height inside your building to create an additional working level.
It can provide space for offices, storage, picking, packing or production while keeping your operation in the same premises.
This guide explains how mezzanine floors work, what your building needs and what to consider before you build. From survey and design through to installation and fit-out, Nexus can manage the complete project.
A mezzanine floor is an intermediate floor built between the main floor and the roof, or between two existing storeys. It creates additional usable space inside a building without extending its footprint.
In a warehouse or industrial unit, a mezzanine is usually a freestanding steel structure with columns, beams and a deck. Stairs provide access to the new level, while the space underneath remains available for use.
Unlike a conventional full upper storey, a mezzanine often covers only part of the area below. It can be open for storage or fitted out with enclosed offices, meeting rooms and staff facilities. The design depends on your building and how you need the space to work.
The main benefit is more usable space within the building you already have. A mezzanine can help you expand your team, hold more stock or create a dedicated work area without the cost and disruption of relocating.
Storage mezzanines provide room for shelving, stock and order picking. Keeping storage above can release valuable ground-floor space for deliveries, packing or other day-to-day operations.
Office mezzanines create space for desks, meeting rooms, kitchens and breakout areas. They can form part of a complete fit-out in a new unit or provide additional offices in your existing premises.
Production mezzanines can accommodate assembly, packing or equipment where the structure is designed for those activities. Mezzanines are also used in retail and showroom settings, with access and safety measures suited to customers.
The amount of space you gain depends on the floor area, available height and access layout. Additional tiers may be possible in taller buildings. We plan the columns, stairs and circulation routes around the work happening on both levels.
You need enough clear height for the space below, the depth of the mezzanine structure and the working space above. Roof beams, lighting, ducts, sprinklers and any ceiling finishes all affect the height available.
A building with around 5 metres of usable internal height is a helpful starting point for assessing a single mezzanine level, rather than a universal minimum or a guarantee that it will fit. Offices, storage areas and production spaces can have different requirements.
A site survey establishes what is practical. We check headroom, stair positions and access alongside the structural design, so the new space works comfortably with your existing operation.
The cost of a mezzanine floor depends on its size, loading, height, column layout and intended use. A straightforward storage platform and a fully fitted office mezzanine are different projects, even when they cover the same area.
Your budget needs to allow for the steelwork and decking, stairs and edge protection, installation, design and approvals. Fire protection, pallet gates, lifts, partitions, lighting, power, heating and cooling may also be needed.
A price per square metre is only useful when you know what it includes. Our guide to the overall cost of the project explains the factors to consider. Compare quotations against the same specification and check VAT, exclusions and fit-out allowances.
Tell us the approximate floor area, your building location and what you want to use the space for. Nexus can assess the requirements and provide a quotation for the agreed scope, giving you a clearer basis for comparing a mezzanine with moving or extending.
Most commercial mezzanine floors use a steel frame supporting a deck. Each component has a role in carrying the loads safely down to the supporting slab or foundations:
Structural particleboard is a common decking option. Steel and other deck systems may be specified where the loading, environment or activity calls for a different surface.
A freestanding mezzanine has its own supporting columns. Rack-supported systems use specially designed racking as part of the structure. These are different structural arrangements; existing racking should never be assumed suitable to support a floor.
Staircases, handrails and loading gates complete the access arrangements. Fire protection and any office fit-out are designed alongside the structure, so the finished floor is suited to its intended use.
A mezzanine floor does not automatically qualify for plant and machinery capital allowances. HMRC generally treats floors as part of the premises, although its guidance recognises specific cases involving movable storage platforms.
The assessment needs to consider both:
1. The purpose and use of the installation.
2. Whether it forms part of the premises or is a separate qualifying asset.
The floor itself: Using a mezzanine for storage is not, on its own, enough to establish eligibility.
The wider project: The structure, services and fit-out may need to be considered separately when assessing the tax treatment.
Ask your accountant or a capital allowances specialist to review the proposed project before including any tax relief in your budget.
Keep the drawings, specification, photographs and itemised costs available to support that review. Nexus can provide information about the agreed works.
A straightforward survey may take a few hours; a larger or more complex site can take longer. We confirm the arrangements in advance and start by discussing how you need the new space to work.
The survey considers two main areas:
To help us assess the project, please have the following ready where available:
We start with the way your business works. The layout needs to provide useful space above while keeping the ground floor practical for people, storage, equipment and deliveries.
Column positions are coordinated with existing walls, racking and work areas wherever possible. Stairs, access routes and loading points are considered from the start, rather than added once the floor has been drawn.
Fewer columns are not automatically better: wider spans can affect steel depth, cost and the forces transferred to the slab. The design balances clear space, headroom, structural requirements and budget.
The supporting concrete slab must be assessed as part of the design. Existing records help establish its construction; where information is missing, an engineer may specify investigations. We use that assessment to develop a layout suited to your building.
The programme includes survey, design, approvals, manufacture, installation and any fit-out. The time spent erecting the steel floor is only one part of the overall project.
A straightforward structure may be installed in a matter of days once the site is ready and materials are available. Larger floors, restricted access, fire protection and work around an occupied warehouse can extend that period.
An office mezzanine floor project also needs time for partitions, ceilings, services, decoration and final finishes. Those works can take longer than installing the structure itself.
Nexus sets out the programme for your agreed scope before work begins. We coordinate deliveries, trades and working areas around your operation, with the aim of keeping disruption manageable.
Fire resistance is the ability of a building element to maintain its required performance for a specified period under fire conditions. For a mezzanine, the design may include protection to the steel frame and underside of the floor.
The required protection depends on the building, the floor’s use, its size and the overall fire strategy. Office and other occupied mezzanines need careful consideration of escape routes, structural protection and the spaces above and below.
Fire-resisting ceilings, column casings, suitable coatings and protected stair enclosures are possible parts of a designed system. Fire detection, emergency lighting and any sprinkler alterations must also be coordinated with the building.
Some raised storage areas may qualify for limited exceptions under the applicable guidance, but storage use alone does not establish an exemption. The project designer and building control body need to assess the complete arrangement before the specification is agreed.
Some steel mezzanines can be dismantled and relocated, but a floor designed for one building will not automatically be suitable for another.
The new premises need an assessment of height, dimensions, slab capacity, access and fire safety. The condition of the reused components and the proposed loading must also be checked. New steelwork or other alterations may be needed.
If relocation is a likely future requirement, tell us at the design stage. We can consider flexibility early and help you understand the practical limits of moving the structure and associated fit-out.
Adding a mezzanine changes the way light and services reach the space below. Lighting, power, data and fire-safety systems should therefore be planned with the floor layout.
Lighting is designed around the tasks on each level, including storage, picking, office work or production. The layout must account for the new steelwork, ceilings and any areas that become shaded.
For office space, we coordinate light fittings, sockets, data points and any heating, cooling or ventilation required by the fit-out.
Cable routes and floor boxes can be planned around desk positions, helping to keep the completed workspace practical and tidy.
For storage and production areas, services need to reach equipment without obstructing access or creating avoidable hazards. Existing installations may need to be moved or extended.
Emergency lighting, alarm alterations and electrical inspection and testing form part of the project requirements where applicable. Nexus can coordinate these works alongside the mezzanine installation.
There is no single load capacity for every mezzanine floor. The structure must be designed for its intended use, including people, stored goods, partitions, machinery and any handling equipment.
The current warehouse slab is part of that assessment. Its construction and supporting ground affect the column layout and whether additional foundation work is required.
An office floor and storage and production mezzanine flooring can have very different loading requirements. Shelving legs, machinery feet and pallet-truck wheels create concentrated loads that need separate consideration.
A uniformly distributed load, usually expressed in kN/m², describes loading spread across an area. It does not mean the same total weight can safely be placed at one point. Provide actual equipment and storage weights so the engineer can assess both.
Follow the capacity and use stated in the approved design and handover information. Before increasing storage density, moving heavy machinery onto the floor or changing its use, have the structure reassessed.
Yes. A commercial mezzanine must meet the applicable Building Regulations, and the building control approval route should be established before work starts. Planning permission is a separate consideration.
In England, relevant requirements can include structural safety, fire safety, stairs and guarding, access, ventilation and energy efficiency. Which provisions apply depends on the building and the work proposed; requirements differ across the UK.
Nexus coordinates the design information and building control process as part of the agreed project scope. Inspections and completion documentation are planned with the relevant building control body, rather than relying on an assumed approval timescale.
An internal mezzanine in England may not need planning permission where it does not materially alter the building’s exterior or involve a material change of use. That does not remove the need to comply with Building Regulations.
Exceptions need checking. Government guidance identifies mezzanines that increase retail premises’ floorspace by more than 200 square metres as development requiring planning permission. Listed buildings, planning conditions and proposed external alterations can also affect the consents needed.
Check the position with the local planning authority before proceeding, and obtain your landlord’s consent where required by your lease. We identify approval requirements early so they can be allowed for in the design, budget and programme.
Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, a commercial client must appoint a Principal Designer in writing where a project involves, or is likely to involve, more than one contractor.
The Principal Designer plans, manages and coordinates health and safety during the pre-construction phase. This includes working with the designers to eliminate or control foreseeable risks during construction, use and maintenance.
Nexus can discuss the appointments needed for your mezzanine project and the responsibilities included in our scope. Read the HSE guidance on Principal Designer duties. The CDM role is distinct from the Principal Designer role under England’s Building Regulations.
A commercial client must appoint a Principal Contractor in writing under CDM 2015 where more than one contractor is involved, or likely to be involved, in the project.
The Principal Contractor plans, manages and coordinates health and safety during construction. This includes organising the work, coordinating contractors and managing site arrangements around people affected by the project.
If you want to appoint your own trades for part of the fit-out, discuss this before work starts so responsibilities and coordination are clear. Nexus can explain how the project will be managed. See the HSE guidance on Principal Contractor duties.
Need more room for your team, stock or production? A mezzanine could help you create the office or operational space you need within your existing building.
Tell us about your premises, the approximate space required and how you want to use it. We will help you establish what is practical and what the complete project needs to include.
Nexus has been designing and delivering commercial spaces since 2009. Through our Nexsteps process, one experienced team can take responsibility from survey and design through to installation, fit-out and handover.
For advice on your building or a quotation for your project, contact Nexus.
Choosing a mezzanine partner means trusting a team with your building and your working day. Hear from businesses we have worked with and see how Nexus approaches the complete project, from the first discussion through to final handover.
