KMA Architecture & Engineering has announced that construction is almost complete on a new 47,000-square-foot storage facility for Five Crowns Marketing. KMA partnered with Swinerton Builders on the design-build project. Construction is expected to wrap up by December 2012.
Five Crowns Marketing grows, packs and ships fresh fruits and vegetables from its headquarters in Brawley, Calif. The new design will transform an existing prefabricated warehouse space into a single-story, energy-efficient facility that will house produce such as romaine lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, sweet corn, cantaloupes, honeydews and various melons. The building will include 18 cooling tunnels and will hold approximately 70,000 cartons of produce.
Additionally, the company has committed to keeping the project environmentally friendly and will eventually cover the roof of the new facility with photovoltaic panels.
"A project like this requires a lot of specialized technical expertise which, in turn, means more consultants and team members to coordinate," said B. Moon Hajjar, Design Director at KMA. "Working in concert with the whole team to manage this fast-paced project as it evolves has been rewarding to say the least. Each member of the team fully understands their role and trusts the others to do a great job. Trust in our team plays a big part in creating a winning project like this one."
The KMA team consists of Rich Guerena, project architect; B. Moon Hajjar, project manager; and Ilia Voronchihin, project designer. Structural engineering services are provided by Hope Engineers. Mechanical and plumbing engineering are provided by McParlane Engineering. Electrical engineering is provided by Michael Wall Engineering.