1. What you will store
The purpose decides everything else. Grain needs walls that withstand the pressure of the grain, machinery needs tall doors and room to manoeuvre, and vegetables and fruit need thermal insulation.
- Grain: concrete walls at the bottom, access for loaders
- Farm machinery: tall doors, wide span with no columns
- Vegetables and fruit: PIR sandwich panels for insulation
- Workshop: lighting and space for repairs
2. Size
Start from the volume of the harvest or from the largest piece of machinery, then add a reserve for extension. Steel hangars can have spans of up to 30 m with no columns in the middle, and the length is chosen as needed. For example, the agricultural warehouse at Fălești is 22 × 54 m, i.e. 1,188 m², and 4.15 m high.
3. Concrete walls for grain
In grain stores the lower part of the walls takes the pressure of the grain and the work of the loader. At Fălești we built concrete walls at least 3 m high, to make loading and unloading the stored grain easier.
4. Cladding
Plain sheet is an economical solution for shelters. Single panel with an anti-condensation membrane reduces dripping, and PIR sandwich panels are chosen where you need thermal insulation, for example for vegetables and fruit.
5. Timelines and paperwork
The steel frame is installed in about 2 weeks. For permits, read our article on the general permitting steps and talk to the designer. We prepare the technical and execution design ourselves.